Gamer Arc
by SmilingJester
Summary: Jaune, an average boy with ambitious dreams, woke up on day and found that he was drugged. What else could cause the floating window in front of him, saying he was now living a video game. M for standard vice and violence
1. Chapter 1

**I usually would have worked on this more, but it was already betaed by Dawnriser and ready to go. I was also going to wait until like march due to still a bit peeved about the death threats, but in light of Mister Oum's death, I wish to post out the story set in his magnificent universe he made with his mind and a dirty napkin.**

* * *

I punched the clock as it rang once more. "Why. Won't. You. Shut. Up!" Each word punctuated by a heavy blow, for me, to the plastic monster that was beeping next to me. My fist finally found home on the off button and the racket it and I was making stop.

With a groan from deep in my chest, I rolled out of my bed on the floor and stood up. All around me was walls and my dresser, the only thing I had in the room other than my bed. I staggered over to the furniture and opened it to see my lacking supply of clothes, just a shirt, hoodie, and a few pairs of pants. 'I wish mom and dad cared enough to buy me clothing,' I mentally sighed as I pulled on my old black hoodie and jeans.

A blue screen suddenly appeared in front of my face, the floating box looked like one of those video games I use to play before dad found out I had one. "**Welcome to 'The Gamer' reality! Please press the arrow or think 'next' to continue!**"

"Wha-?" I asked aloud as I glanced around my room. The screen followed my head, but my eyes could focus anywhere and it didn't move an inch. I calmed down immediately and started thinking things through. Weird, I usually would freak out like the spaz I am when weird things happened to me.

I poked the arrow button on the bottom right corner and the screen changed. "**As of now, your life is a video game, congratulations!**" I stared at the message for what must have been five minutes, unable to comprehend what was going on. 'I must be mad or something. Maybe Susie drugged me in my sleep again?' On this train of thought, I began to wonder what kind of drug would result in this kind of reaction. I didn't even play that many video games, maybe one every year if I could get to an arcade.

I tapped the next arrow, curious where this trip, from whatever Susie stabbed me with, will bring me. At least this one was going to be interesting, unlike the last one that made me think shadow men were coming out of the walls to get me. Still wondered where she got that drug and what it was. "**For options, simple think 'Options' and it will give you access to general changes in your life that may be manipulated such as the sound, settings and visuals. Think, 'Inventory' to access your inventory, 'skills' for skill menu and 'stats' for basic attributes. For a more advance instruction, please refer to the instruction menu within settings. Have a nice day!**"

The screen blinked off when I focused on the exit button and I am left standing around in a daze. "Wha-?" I repeated to myself and once more, I calmed down before I could lose my mind like usual. "Um..." I hummed as I thought there may have been some basis to this if I'm not freaking the hell out and then I thought, 'Skills?'

A screen popped up in front of me with two icons on it. Over them, above the grid like layout was the word 'skills' and then on the opposite side was a gear. I focus on the gear and a new screen came into life, dimming the other one.

**Skill's settings**

**Change layout – Grid, Category, Alphabet**

**Info – The skills window is where everything the player learns is put and ranked. Everything is ranked from 1 to Max. Once at Max, the skill is mastered to the point of no improvement other than personal experience in the use of said skill.**

I tapped the category button and the skills rearranged itself. The window closed by itself to reveal a simple category that had the word "**Gamer**" on it. I focused on the name and it zoomed the screen into the icon to show a list with two skills along with what it did and the level,

I focused on the icon with a silhouetted head that had writing next to it that said. "**Gamer Mind (Passive)**: Level MAX - Allows the user to calmly and logically think things through. Allows peaceful state of mind. Immunity to psychological status effects."

So that was why I was freaking the hell out.

The other was having a "**Gamer's Body**" which basically said that I lived like a gamer and sleeping in a bed would heal mostly any damage other than death. This would be cool if it wasn't some hallucination.

I just exited out of the skills and went to my stats, for now going along with the trip to see where it would lead me. I wonder what I'm judged to have? It was probably nothing good, I am a failure after all.

**Name: Jaune Arc**

**Level: 1**

**Next level: 0%**

**Title: The Disgrace**

**HP: 100**

**MP: 100**

**STR: 6**

**VIT: 8**

**DEX: 10**

**INT: 10**

**WIS: 6**

**LUK: 15**

**Points:**

**Money:**

Well that was severely upsetting. I knew that I was a failure, but to have the title of "The Disgrace" was pushing it. Plus I was level one at the age of thirteen and the only thing that looked right was my luck which wasn't all that great to begin with.

I shut the window with a sigh as I finished pulling on my clothing. I needed to go get some fresh air and I think my letter from Signal was suppose to come today. My dad had been going on about how he entered me into combat school the moment I turned thirteen so I could finally stop being "the little bitch" I apparently am. That was over eight months ago and today I will be learning if I had made it in or not. They mostly just looked at the grades you have in school, but I had a very low expectation that I'd get in. My grades were average at best and barely passing at worst.

Class started at eight, so I just trudged downstairs and sat at the kitchen table for a moment. The night sky was still covering the land as it was only six in the morning, the only time I was free from those glares from Mom and Dad. Away from the constant comparison to my athletic _little_ sisters. "How can you not do that Jaune?! Your ten year old sister can even do that!" They would yell as my sisters do what I could not. They were stronger, faster, and just all around better than me at everything.

I sighed into my hands before getting up to finish the chores that I never got around to doing last night. My "Punishment" for my failure was to act like the maid until I could impress both of my hunter parents that I was worthy enough to not have to do bitch work. This was five years ago and I mostly had only accomplished in making myself look to be a fool to them. I grabbed the dirty dishes and a sponge, then started to scrub the dried food off it.

I nearly dropped the pan I was holding when a screen popped up in front of me. "**Dish washing (Passive):** Lvl 1 – A technique to wash dishes. With more mastery, you can vanquish any dirty spots on the dish. 5% faster washing speed." Well, I guess that was useful. As I continue to wash the many dishes my family of six made in a day, I did notice my washing was faster than usual and once I got to level 2 in the skill, I was slightly more fast.

I could almost giggle like a lunatic, but I heard my parents shifting upstairs, so I suppressed it just in case they heard me. They came down after a few minutes and I was still not done with the dishes. Dad tromped into the kitchen, his lumbering body, one fitted more for a bear than a knight, nearly shaking the ground with every step he took. "You're not done with the dishes, boy?! You had all night!"

The man gave me a hard smack on the back of my head which may have been light to him, but to a untrained civilian, it was like getting hit with a fleshy hammer. I rubbed the back of my head and noticed a blue box in front of my face, "**Physical Endurance (Passive):** level 1 – Physical damage does 2% less damage!"

I made the screen disappear as I continued the dishes and then got started on breakfast for ten people. My parents ate for three each thanks to their jobs and the amount of work they do with their bodies. Another screen came up with a cooking skill which gave me a 5% boost to the quality the results had. Well, that was good. I could use that with my maid service, if only this wasn't a strange trip that had apparently went my way.

As I cooked, I saw my sisters come down and when I focused on them, I saw above their heads floated their name and level. Susie was level nine, Becky was level six as was Jennie. Those two were only seven and far above my measly level one. I was right, pathetic. One glance at my parents told me all I needed to know about our difference. Dad was level ? and Mom was level ?. I'm such a loser that I couldn't even tell how strong my parents were.

Once all the food was ready, I plated it all and put it on the table, only taking a bit for myself as I sat in my chair at the side. Breakfast was a quiet affair as my sisters had yet to fully wake up. Susie, the oldest at ten never could wake up fast. Jennie and Becky, the seven year old twins, could wake up on a dime, but the school year was nearly over which made them sluggish. They only had two months left until their vacations began. To their young minds, that was nearly over and forever, so they started acting like it was close while feeling like it was next year.

A ringing came from the door and Dad pointed at me with one hand as the other was holding a fork in his mouth. I gave a resigned nod as I got up, my food half eaten that I knew I wouldn't be able to finish. I opened the door to found a bundle of letters in our mailbox next to the door.

I grabbed the pack and brought it back to the table, handing it to Dad. He gave a hard swallow and opened the bundle. "Susie, Becky, Jennie, bill, bill, hit list and... Jaune's letter." The girls' letter went to Mom to open in the other room while dad kept mine.

I just picked up all the finished plates, including mine, and began washing them at the sink while Dad read over the hit list and bills. Dad was such a famous hunter that people mailed him requests instead of him going out to a hunter's board to pick up jobs. I finished the dishes right as dad opened my letter, taking his time to set aside the bills. The man silently read it and my fears came true when the man spoke. "Jaune. Meet me out back for training," the man's emotionless voice echoed the room as he got up and left. I had failed to get into school and he was _pissed_.

I gave a punch to the counter as I tossed the sponge down. 'At least I'll feel two percent less pain from this beating than what I normally would,' I grimly joked to myself as I went out the back door to see my dad holding a wooden sword and his warhammer. 'Oh, he's pissed.' I usually get a wooden shield at least when I had to fight him with his hammer.

I trudge over and he threw the wooden weapon at me. I caught it in a fumbling fashion, almost getting some splinter from the damaged tool. I stared at it wondering, 'how much more does this thing have in it?'

Two screens popped out and told me, "**Skill acquired! Analyze (Active): **Level 1 – observing objects, situations, and persons allows the user to quickly gather information. The higher the skill, the greater the data obtained!" The other was information on my wooden blade.

**Damaged Wooden Sword – A wooden sword that has been heavily abused in its short existence**

**30/300**

**1 blunt**

Thank you mysterious drugged state of mind. I've used this sword only three times, so this match was going to break this thing. The fact I had no shield will just lessen the tool's life. I close the screen as I gripped the doomed tool and took the dead man steps towards... father.

"You failed because you are a pansy! I'm going beat that out of you one way or another!" Dad yelled at me from across the ring we are to fight within. "Now fight!" The man flashed forward and swung his hammer at me, the speed was too fast for me to even follow and the metal weapon slammed into my arm, making me fly out of the ring. The only thing that stopped my flight was a nearby tree. My head made a dent in the bark as it hit and I fell to the ground, gasping in agony.

My vision was a haze from the fiery pain in my side and skull, but I could make out a screen in front of me. "**Physical Endurance leveled up, Physical Endurance leveled up, Physical Endurance leveled up, Physical Endurance leveled up, Physical Endurance leveled up, Physical Endurance leveled up. Physical Endurance now protects against 14% of physical damage!**"

'That's cool,' I thought to myself through my pounding skull as I let my body lay on the ground, every breath agony. I feel something heavy smash into my gut which played havoc on my already pained body. I notice two more levels in my endurance before I let my unconsciousness submit to the void. A message flashed inside my eyelids, **HP: 10/100**

I awakened what must have been hours later in the middle of a forest. I looked around and analyzed everything that I saw to figure out where the hell I was. The skill stayed with me even after getting knocked out, so I guess it's real enough to me. The information I got from the hundreds of trees was that I'm still in Vale, near my house if the location of mid-north was to be believe.

Dad probably dumped my body here to "Train" me further. Luckily the grimm were a small presences where we live due to the weekly patrols around and how the grimm actually do show some signs of self-preservation with overwhelming numbers against them. I got up and as I moved, I felt something shift off me. At my feet laid a basic longsword with a note. "Here is a sword boy. Make it home through the these woods and I'll try to get you into Signal during the try outs. There are Grimms around." Dad was finally trying to kill me. The title was right, I was a disgrace to my family name and he didn't want me to drag it down anymore.

I grabbed the blade and checked it out to see what I was working with.

**Basic Long Sword – One of many mass produced swords made in Vale for basic use**

**400/400**

**10 bladed**

'At least I have something.' I stood up and noticed that nothing really hurt even after the beating I took. That proved more than the screens that this was real. I knew for a fact that those hit would break bones as this was not the first time the beatings got bad. As I walked through the woods, I heard all the animal life around me, keeping an ear out for any anomalies that would come with a Grimm assault. A screen popped up. "**Sense Danger (Passive/Active):** Level 1 – Allows user to sense when something bad might happen! Gives location of the danger up to fifty meters. Active: 1 mp every 1 seconds. Boosted range"

I nodded at the screen and kept a look out for anything that could do me harm. As I kept on alert, I slowly got more and more tired until I felt I couldn't even walk anymore. I took a break and figured that I used up all my "MP" by keeping on alert. This was reinforced by the three screens I got for Sense Danger leveling up.

I let myself lean against a tree for a half hour as I caught my breath and kept checking around with my analyzes to see if I was getting any closer to some form of civilization. Nothing indicated that I was. At the half hour mark, I felt like a million lien again and got back to my feet.

I kept the alertness to just that, no skills involved as I checked around my surroundings. I kept moving for hours on end, using my Sense Danger skills as much as I dared, keeping an eye on my stats to never go below fifty percent mark just encase I needed to book it. With my constant use, it leveled up twice more, putting it at six. Another thing I found was that my "attributes" leveled up by anything too. I got an Int point just by walking, (**Through acts of logic in a survival scenario for prolonged time +1 Int**). This was after five hours of constant fear and caution though.

The darkness started to descend and I was becoming increasingly tired the longer I walked through the woods. All of a sudden, everything seemed to freeze. The wind no longer blew and the bugs no longer chirped. I pulled my blade out as I let my senses go.

I felt a slight pressure that I just _knew_ meant danger was there and the distance it was at. Nearly twenty feet away. A Grimm was twenty feet away from me at this moment. I whipped around, bringing my blade to bare as I looked into the forest where I sensed the Grimm.

My movement seemed to have aggravated the creature as it barreled out and towards me. I rolled to the side as the thing blurred by me with a snarl. I got to my feet, turning towards the foul creature as I went. I saw that the Grimm was a Boarbatusk. Above it's head was the name of the creature and level. **'Boarbatusk level 10**,' I read. 'I'm going to die here.' I focus on it and the basic information I got was;

**Boarbatusk**

**level 10**

**health 300/300**

The boar charged again and I sidestepped, but gave a haphazard slash at its flank as it past. The blade bit into its shoulder and the momentum nearly tore the blade from my grasp, but I held on and the boar ripped the sword through its body. I twisted around with the blade as it came out of the back of the Grimm, so I didn't have the thing behind me.

I notice that its health was down fifty points from that hit and was slowly going down as blood drained from the large gash decorating the entirety of its left side. I took a deep breath when I saw the large amount of health gone. 'I can do this!' I cried to myself as I brought my bloody blade back in front of me, my two hands holding the sharpened metal tightly, if shaking like a leaf. A small screen was blinking in the corner of my vision and I took a second to glance at it to see a small slot that said, "Skill acquired, focus to open!" Whatever made this happen to me was at least courteous enough not to slap screens in front of my face right in the middle of a battle.

I lunged forward and gave the boar a quick jab in the face which just bounced off the mask with a sad tinking noise that made us both pause. 'That was horrible,' I thought and I think the boar thought with me. "Shit!" I cried, my young voice cracked a bit as I threw myself out of the way of the retaliation from the Grimm.

I dodged, dipped, ducked, dove and dodged around every charge the mad beast made in a frantic mess. At every chance, I gave it a swing that if I was lucky, took five health points off the bar. I began to grow tired as the fight wore on. The boar was getting slower as it was suffering from extreme blood loss and I was getting slow from fatigue as well as damage to my body from glancing blows. I looked at the bar again and saw that there was only fifty points left after, judging from moon's position in the sky... **Ding!**... We had been at this fight for over two hours.

I gave a cry of battle which sounded ridiculous even to me as I charged the boar. It charged too, so I tried to get out of the way, but disaster struck. I tripped over a root and rolled to the ground onto my back. I fear, I stuck my blade out ahead of me and closed my eyes.

A weight bowled into me and knocked me on my back. My eyes snapped open, but the weight was on my head too and all I saw was darkness. With a heave, I made the thing budge over until I could wiggle out from beneath the boarbatusk. I sat up and saw that my sword had gone through a crack in its armor that kept its legs from locking up and impaled the heart. The strike was pure luck that I think will never be on my side again.

When I ripped the longsword from the dead Grimm, it seemed to unleashed a flood of messages. Ten in total. I had gained a few skills;

**Sword Mastery (Passive):** level 4 - The ability to effectively use swords in combat. + 20% damage with swords +20% speed with swords.

**Dodge (Passive):** level 3 – ability to get out of the way.

O**verdo (Active):** level 1 - The ability to go past your normal limits in desperate situations, + 10% to physical stats,, 1% of MP every second

Once I waded through those, I found that I had leveled up twice and got two points in VIT, so I am now level three. The Boar was worth 1325 experience and was just enough to get to level three. I sighed and laid back against the dead Grimm. "Happy dad, I've killed a Grimm! Fucking asshole," I muttered to myself. "Stats," I quietly called out after I took a deep breath to calm myself.

I see that my stats are the same except for the VIT boost from the fight, but I had ten points to distribute now. I put four in my WIS and STR to get them to an even ten. I felt my head clear a little and I find I can think a bit more logically with the small boost in wisdom. I figured that strength is for muscle, Vitality for stamina, Dexterity for speed, Intelligence was how good my mind was and Wisdom was how to use that knowledge.

With a groan, I picked myself back up and made my way deeper into the woods, hunting for a way out of the forest. After three more hours of walking, I was no more closer to finding anyone than when I started and now I could barely see the trees around me. I gave up and scrambled up a small tree before dropping off to sleep, my blade clutched tightly to my body.

The sounds of birds calling for mates woke me up from my rest. I find that I once more feel great and not like I just got my ass kicked by a Boarbatusk. Seeing how I was still in the woods, it not being one large bad dream. I hop down and in my frustrated, but not panicked mind, I forced myself to break out in a sprint and keep going, jumping over the downed trees and brush.

I gained the sprinting skill which I just dismissed after reading the summary and the Gymnastics skill, which just told me that I could jump better and flip, then I did the same thing I did to the Sprint skill. I Sprinted for five minutes before I had to stop, the cramp in my side getting too intense for me to handle even if I had a few points of mana to spare. After a half hour break of walking, I started over and I forgo-ed caution for the next day and a half just to mindlessly sprint through the woods. I kept telling myself that I was going the wrong way, to turn back. I always countered it by thinking I might be going the wrong way, but civilization was just around this corner. I was already moving enough that turning back would be meaningless!

I slept in trees which the gymnastics helped with a bit and ate berries that I found in them which for a forest near a large city, was quite often. I ran into one more Grimm in the time I was running the next day which was another Boarbatusk. With my experience and the little boosts I got from the level up, I barely win against the creature in an hour, but I didn't fall on my ass during a charge that time.

The beast had corner me, so I couldn't just run like my life depended on it, which it did. I had done the same tactic I did on the last, but with a tiny bit more confidence. Not much, but enough that I did lunge at it a few times to get it to move like I wanted it to a bit. Just enough for the tusks not to impale me if I got too close.

I leveled up once more because of that battle and put all the points in my strength, so that I could hit the grimms harder.

I lost my hoodie on the third day of running thanks to yet another boarbatusk nearing the evening. The days of busting through brush and low limbs had taken the toll of the fabric, ripping apart everywhere and when that tusk hooked through one of the larger holes, the rest just followed the grimm in it. I killed that thing the fastest yet in twenty minutes to avenge my hoodie. My anger that it took away my favorite piece of clothing fueled my battle, causing me to take a few more risk than I should have. If I get back, I would only have one shirt left because of that damn thing!

By the end of the week, my body had a mess of tiny scars everywhere from bad gashes that the trees or grimm had inflicted on me. The sleeping healed it, but if it was deep enough, it left a scar. I read through the options that the marks would last for a few months, slowly fading until it was just a simple line that looked years old and than nothing after another month. Maiming or extremely bad wounds like impalement or deep injures will leave permanent marks however.

On the eighth day, I was sprinting and jumping through the woods like what was becoming normal for me, feeling confident that I'd find civilization due to another level up and put everything into my luck stat.

My VIT stat had also grown to obscene levels in comparison to my level already due to my constant fast-pace grueling sprints. I would always push through my fatigue and keep going, so the stat kept raising due to my persistent nature.

I saw yet another log in front of me, so my pounding legs took to just the right stride, so when I reached the log, I lunged over it flawlessly. That was leagues better than my first attempts which usually put me down on my face.

I flew out and started my descent, but continued it longer than I thought I would have. I looked down to see the oncoming hillside I just jumped down. "Fuck!" I shouted just before I slammed into the grass and started tumbling ass over tit down the hillside, picking up speed all the way. I tried to stop myself, but my feet caught on a rock, sending my body into the air to land on my back, knocking the wind out of me. Once I couldn't breath, the tumble took a downward turn and I could no longer even tell which side was up, just that the ground was where the pain was starting from.

I could only grunt and groan as I protected my head all the way down the hill until I came to a stop at what felt like a boulder. I could only muster a pitiful groan as I let my body relax to the ground. My back and chest were covered in small gashes from the trip down the mountain.

After I felt I had enough air in my lungs, I sat up to see I hadn't hit a boulder, but a large stone wall. I almost gave a whoop of joy, but I held it in as I staggered to my feet. My health was down by a quarter, but that was all. I followed the wall around the side and in front of me was a gatehouse that had a light on. I dashed at it and found that there were people! This wasn't a ghost town!

"Sir!" My young voice called out as I ran over. The man looked up and dropped his book at the sight of me. "I need help!" The man opened his door to meet me as I came over.

"You sure do boy. Where are your clothes and how did you get so hurt?" The man asked me with suspicion in his voice. 'Why is is suspicious?' I thought to myself.

With tears almost in my eyes from how happy I was, I answered the man, "A boarbatusk ripped them off sir. I've been running through the woods for the past week and I just want to go home." At home, tears started to fall from my eyes. I didn't want to live in fear anymore, I just wanted my bed and a nice warm meal!

The guard crouched next to me and placed his hand on my shoulder, "Where is home son?"

I wiped my eyes and got control over my emotions. I answered the man quietly, focused on the ground, "The residential district in Vale, sir." The man gasped at my answer.

The man stared at me for a moment before pulling out an old walkie talkie. "Captain, we have a situation. A kid from Vale just showed up from the woods. I'm bringing him to town hall, can you get some food and clothes ready for him?"

I heard a confirmation over the radio and the man gave me a strained smile. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but we don't have any way back to Vale from here. We have a convoy that comes by with supplies every four months, but they left five days ago. We can get you on the next shipment, but we have no way to get you home before then. The roads are far too dangerous to walk down as bandits are prevalent in this area since grimms are not."

I nodded, making sure no more tears fell. I didn't mind how long it took to get home, but I'm sure my sisters missed me. Even though mom and dad didn't like me, my sisters were my only friends. Sure I got jealous of all their positive attention, but they were really the only people that actually cared about me even if they did mess with me. The guard opened the gate from his booth and went inside. The gate shut behind them, a gate made of solid steel with reinforcing concrete within the plates.

The duo arrived at the town hall and met with an older man who had clothes next to him and a tray of hot food. The man had his name and title above his head.

**Captain of Luka's guard**

**Keith Shardis**

**level ?**

The man tossed me a shirt which was threadbare, but after almost a week without one, it felt like pure cotton. I pulled it over my head after setting down my blade and when I had it on, the man gave me the tray with food. I sat down against the wall and devoured the food. It was some type of gruel, but after a diet of root and berries, like the shirt, it was heavenly.

Once I finish everything, Shardis crouched next to me. "Okay, so we have contacted the runners that brings us our supplies. They will be ready to make a stop at Vale for you when they come, but it will be in three months and three weeks. In that time, we can't house a slacker, so you will have to pick a profession to work in."

In front of my eyes, a blue screen appears that the man didn't see.

**Quest:**

**Pick and work a profession until supply run.**

**Reward – 2000 experience**

**Can not deny.**

"Um... Okay. C-can I be a guard? I can sort of fight," I stuttered out, never have been good with social interaction with my lack of friends and terrible self-esteem.

The captain squinted at me, "You kill Grimm before?"

I nodded slowly with my head down, "Um... I'm not all that good at it, but on my way here, I had to kill five Boarbatusks, but they were kind of weak and it took me almost forty minutes to kill one." I don't think a level fourteen is all that powerful considering that the guard that met me was level thirty and Shardis was a double mystery number like my parents

The captain hummed as he thought, "Okay... Okay, here is what we do. I'm going to put you through a condensed three months of training. If you can become proficient enough in sword work as well as the use of a standard pistol and assault rifle, you can be part of our guard. This training will be grueling as it will compact all that our recruits need to be at in what would be a year of training into three months. However, if you finish the training with recommendation from your trainer, you will become a guard of our proud town. Do not fail me son."

I nodded and the man told me to follow the guard I came in with to the barracks to clean up and rest. I did so and I finally felt human again after all that time. On my way to the bed I was given, I saw that the average guard was level twenty to thirty, so I was worthless against them and I didn't think three months was going to fix that.

I snuggled down on the mattress and fell asleep before the covers were fully around me. The next morning, I was pulled out of my bed and dragged out back of the barracks. In my sleep-idled mind, I barely notice anything other than the training dummies around and track of dirt around the yard.

I blinked the sleep out of my eyes enough to see that the guard that was dragging me was a large black man. His name was Jonathan Bic and he was the quartermaster apparently. "Okay boy," the man growled as he pushed me to stand in front of him. "I want you to run around this track thirty times in under thirty minutes. Failure will be punished!" At the word failure, I bolted down the track to avoid the beating that usually followed that word if I didn't immediately get on things.

I didn't activate Sprint, but I did push my body to try and match the speed without using any of my mana. The track itself wasn't too big, about the diameter of of a large building, so I'd guess it would have been a ten of a mile long. I barely met the time and ended up falling to the ground, covered in sweat, as I finished the last lap. A screen in front of me spoke of more vitality. "Hm. So you can run, but now we have to make sure you can fight." I groaned as I pushed myself back to my feet, my legs sore, but that was nothing new. Running day in and out had gotten me into some beginning of fitness.

The man gave me a wooden sword as he grabbed his own wooden one. "I'll be testing your sword work. I'll go easy on you for now, but in three months, you better beat me or so help me lo~RD!" On lord, the man dashed forward at a manageable speed and swung at me.

After the speed the Boarbatusk displayed, I could barely get my sword up in time to block when before I would have not even moved. The blow deadened my arm and I could barely block the follow-up swing that came for my head. For the next two hours, I had to stay on the defensive as the man beat the hell out of me trying to teach me how to fight. I did gain two skills, Blocking and Parry which do exactly as they sound like. I couldn't parry too well, but I got okay at blocking by the end. By okay, I meant I could lessen the pain the blow did from agony to motherfucking painful.

By noon, the man let me take a break which I used to eat in the mess with some of the other off-duty guards. After I had eaten and relaxed a bit, Bic came back and dragged me to a shooting range. The quartermaster took me through the safety rules and how to handle a pistol, rifle and surprisingly a bolt-action sniper rifle. I got a skill for each once the man let me check them over.

After two hours of lessons, the man told me to shoot each at targets and make sure the grouping was tight. By the time I was done firing and learning, it was dark out and I was ready for bed. The first day of training was intense and it didn't get better.

* * *

**There you go**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is the next installment of Gamer Arc.**

* * *

Chapter 2

The next few months of training were uneventful other than the intense amount of work I had to do daily. Through everything I did, I got only two more level, just by completing all the tasks that Bic gave to me. Little errands that I leapt on for a break in my agonizing training. My skills had gone up a great deal, enough for me to almost be at my little sister's level, at most. I was a terrible trainee in the end. I showed improvement and I really did try as hard as I could, but the results were nothing special for three straight months of work.

**Name: Jaune Arc**

**Level: 8**

**Next level: 80%**

**Title: The Disgrace**

**HP: 1380**

**MP: 500**

**STR: 25**

**VIT: 60**

**DEX: 30**

**INT: 16**

**WIS: 12**

**LUK: 20**

**Points:**

**Money:**

**Skills: (Range 1-Max)**

**Gamer's Body (Passive)** – Max

**Gamer's Mind (Passive)** – Max

**Analyze (Active):** level 5 - Observing objects, situations, and persons allows the user to quickly gather information. The higher the skill, the greater the data obtained!

**Vitality Affiliation** **(Passive)**: Level 5 - +50% stamina, +50% stamina regeneration

**Physical Endurance** **(Passive):** level 15 - Ability to endure and negate physical damage. 30% less physical damage

**Dish Washing (Passive):** level 3 - Fight the stains with the might of your hands! +15% speed at dishes

**Cooking (Passive): **level 2 - Cook the food with great strength . +7% better quality food

**Firearms:**

**Pistol Mastery (Passive):** level 5 - Use of a pistol - +25% damage and accuracy

**Rifle Mastery (Passive):** level 5 - Use of Rifle - +25% damage and accuracy

**Sniper Mastery (Passive):** level 2 - Use of scoped weapons - +10% damage and accuracy. +6% steadiness

**Sense Danger (Passive/ Active):** level 6 - Allows user to sense when something bad might happen! Gives location of the danger up to fifty meters. Active: 1 mp every 5 seconds, increases range by two hundred meters, more direct location of danger

**Sword Mastery (Passive): **level 19 - The ability to effectively use cutting swords in combat. + 95% damage with swords, +95% speed with swords

**Hand to Hand (Passive): **level 3 - Fighting without weapons. +15% damage with body, +15% speed with body in combat. Augments all aspects of combat.

**Dodge (Passive)**: level 7 – Ability to get out of the way

**Block (Passive)**: level 3 – The ability to block a hit. -6% force from blocked strikes to shield.

**Sprint (Active)**: level 10 – Sprinting, 3 MP per 5 seconds, 40% increase to speed

**Parry (Passive)**: level 7 – The ability to redirect a strike

**Gymnastics (Passive)**: level 5 - The ability to make leaps, somersaults and other such moves. +25% Jumping height and coordination

O**verdo (Active):** level 3 - The ability to go past your normal limits in desperate situations, + 30% to physical stats, 1% of MP every second

**Scavenge (Passive):** level 3 - The ability to find food and supplies in the wild or trash

Bic escorted me to Shardis at the end of the last month, his face set in a grim vintage. My body felt like one big bruise from that final fight I had with Bic that acted as my final grade to see if I was up for the privilege of fighting for Luka. I had failed at the spar, so I was probably not going to get the job though.

"Captain Shardis, sir!" Bic announced as we came into the office of the captain. We both gave a salute to the captain until the man waved his hand to let us be at ease. "Private Arc is ready to defend our wall. He is well over proficient with the blade and his marksmen ship is to our standard. Remarkable that he is this far along in only three months. Sadly, the boy can't match any guards here due to his age, size and strength, but his stamina reminds me of a beowolf and his tenacity matches."

I could only widen my eyes and fight my face from giving away any more of my shock at his words. 'I made it?!' I cried in my head with confusion.

Shardis nodded and opened up a drawer from his desk. "Well Private. You will report to Sergeant Pierce for your assignment for the next three weeks. Your pay will be one hundred liens a week until you leave. If you decide to stay however, you will be paid five hundred lien a week. Your training is being taken out of your pay at the moment. Welcome to Luka's defense force." The captain tossed a badge at me which had the mark of Luka on it. I fumblingly caught it and saluted the man. Once I was dismissed, I left the office to go find Sargent Pierce for my assignment.

The Sergeant was rather easy to find as he was eating in his office. He gave me guard duty for the east wall and told me to kill any Grimm that showed themselves in the clearing, not that it happened that often since the town was known to the grimms as a place to die. If a bandit was spotted, don't shoot, but raise an alarm. This would cut down on innocents being killed on accident. I was given a pass to get a sword, pistol and scoped rifle from the armory once my duties were outlined.

The first week on duty was mind-numbingly boring, but I passed the time by analyzing everything I could see. The trees, the leaves, the grass, that one farmer that went out to go pick berries, or that guy that would go chops some trees down bordering the woods for resources.

I gained levels in the skill quickly until I reached level ten. At ten, it seems to double the needed points to level up which was why I only had nineteen levels in swords after using it for so long, three hours every day for my entire training. I also figured out that battling with the skills to the death makes them increase about three times as fast. Hitting a tree or sparring had nothing on killing Grimms. Nothing compared to the heart-stopping fear of death or the satisfaction of being the one who came out on top of a battle to the death. I gained a bit of experience with little quests here and there as everyday gave me a quest to do my job, but they were small rewards that really didn't do much to level me up. It was about three percent of my experience a day and since I was such a low level, at ten or something, I would probably stick with the level for months if I didn't do dangerous things.

Week two followed the course of week one while on the job, but a lot of things happened during my down time. Most of which was under the peer pressure of my fellow guards. With my pay, I bought myself my own pistol near the beginning of the week so I could keep it on me during downtime in case anything happened. A simple metal tool that was mass produced before weapons became too complicated. Ancient by the standards now, the pistol still had bullet drop due to using gunpowder and heavy bullets instead of dust with grain size projectiles. It had a seven round magazine and was of the .45 caliber variety. The durability was much more than my standard issue dust pistol that I replaced it with due to the use of complete metal instead of a plastic mixed with a light alloy, so that it may fold into a smaller form. It packed a much greater punch and the ammo could be locally crafted which was why it was used out here, but making the ammo took time due to lack of mass production.

My comrades thought that since I was going to be leaving them soon, I should have something to remember them all by. The squad got together and dragged me to a house in the middle of town and told the man inside, "Give him a Luka parting gift." I was immediately fighting the moment they grabbed me, but I redoubled my efforts as they dragged me into a room where there was a few needles on a table along with a box and a steel bed in the middle. The crew picked me up and put me on the table before holding me down.

I was relaxing at the time they took me, so I was without a shirt on which apparently made their job easier as the man that we came in with took a needle to my back that was vibrating and started to do something to me. I stopped resisting as the man had a sharp tool against my flesh and I didn't want to make that get stabbed into me. I glared at my comrades and they all looked sheepish, but the shit-eating grins told me all I needed to know on their feelings.

The needle gave a soft buzz as it glided along the flesh of my back in seemingly random patterns. It didn't hurt much due to my skill, but I would have liked to have known I was getting a tattoo today instead of kidnapped from my bunk.

After three hours, the man was finally done giving me a tattoo which I had almost fallen asleep during. I could tell it was the town's crest by the feel of the outline that the dull ache gave me. The man took the needle away from my back and placed it on the table it was on. The man opened his toolbox and asked, "Do you want this to be permanent and not able to be warped? While I will help my former comrades mark a member, this is a step that I need your consent for."

I pressed my face against the steel before looking up, "What do you do?"

The man pulled out a little pouch and explained, "I use a special dust concoction to make the ink infused with your very soul. When you get hurt, be it a bullet to the back or even having the entirety of the flesh melted off your very body, the tattoo will always return using some of your life force that is generated every beat of your heart. The cons are that it will never go away and can never be altered."

I bounced my head off the table before saying, "What does the tattoo look like first?" The man pulled out a mirror from the side which I hadn't noticed apparently and turned it around to show me on the table. I hopped off the steel bed and turned around.

The crest was covering three-fourth of my back, from my shoulder blades to a few inches above my pants line. The crest of Luka was a large snarling timber wolf flanked by an octagon wall that bordered it to represent our wall's layout. Above the wall had "Luka" written in what the artist told me was called the Beyond Wonderland font, not sure why he told me, but I guessed it was to fill the time it took to make the rather large tattoo.

Below that, it had our towns motto in ancient Mystian, a language that went by the name of Latin in my native tongue, "Vivant et maledictæ vigilem" Long live the cursed sentry. The history behind that, to my knowledge, was that Luka was founded during a time of strafe by guards that were disillusioned by all the war and deserted their posts to start a new life with their families. The timber wolf was their symbol due to how fiercely they wanted to protect their families from the wars. Hence the hardcore training everyone in the guard undergoes to protect the town.

An added bonus to the design of the tattoo was the wolf's eyes were ruby red and fur was realistically filled in. The hair was easy to see in a gray format to make it look like an emblem. All around, it was a masterpiece in my eyes. I rubbed my face before nodding, "Yeah... This is too good of a work to have it be ruined by a stray bullet."

I laid back down on the bed and the man painted the dust onto my skin where it burned along the ink lines for a few agonizing seconds until it evened out. The men in the room that were watching all cheered and laughed while slapping me on the shoulder. The tattoo artist made them stop to give him time to put the bandage on my back. "While the ink will always be fine thanks to the dust, I did just stab you more than a few thousand times and we don't want you to get an infection," the artist said with a smirk as my squad picked me up over their heads and carried me out of the room, cheering and generally having a good time.

I noticed a window that said I now had a Dust-Tattoo and it told me what the good artist just informed me of. It also gave me a bonus affiliation with anyone from Luka.

The rest of the week finished quickly after that and I earned enough money to buy a reloading bench with my next pay check. They were cheap as I got a used piece of shit that was going to be replaced by the fighting force here. They had gotten a better shipment of them from Vale the week before I arrived and I got to the bench just before they were going to be recycled into the town, so I got a deal on one at thirty lien.

I kept it in my inventory which didn't seem to have any weight behind it, but did have a weight limit on what it could hold. With my strength at the moment, it allowed one hundred pounds of shit to be stored before it wouldn't except anything. The bench being fifty pounds total as the table part was just a small desk that was littered with supply containers. I was so happy and disappointed when I found out about the inventory in training. Happy due to the usefulness and disappointed that I hadn't found it earlier. I could have saved a ton of food in there if I had found it.

On the final week, I once more saw nothing during my entire shift. I sighed as my replacement came in and I walked down the stairs to go grab a good meal. As I took the first step, I heard a crack and a thump. I look back to check out what that sound was and saw the replacement without the back of his head.

The man's brain was visible through the hole as it began to leak out onto the stonework in a burst of crimson. The blood flooded out quickly until there was nothing left. As if a puppet cut his strings, the man jerked forward and hit the stone ground with a meaty and wet thud. This brought more blood out of the hole in his skull, coating the ground with his life-giving fluid.

I was about to panic at the sight of my dead comrade before my Gamer Mind skill calmed me down. I needed to raise the alarm, not run around like a fool. I saw a window appear, but I quickly exited out of it as I moved forward.

I ducked behind cover on the wall and pulled my radio from my belt, "I'm taking fire in sector 5, guard down. Repeat, I'm taking fire in sector 5, guard down." I got a confirmation and an alarm raised itself around the town, telling the citizens to stay indoors and guards to get ready.

I pulled my sniper of my inventory and looked through the scope around the clearing. I saw a bush rattle and like a flood, fifty bandits dashed out, firing at the wall. I ducked behind cover as the rounds peppered my position. All around me, I heard my comrades that were already along the wall return fire. A quest screen came up before my eyes as I waited for the fire on me to die down.

**Quest:**

**Defend against bandit assault**

**Reward – 3000 experience and closeness with town of Luka**

**Failure – Death**

**Denial – Luka thinks of you as a deserter**

I accepted the quest and popped out of cover. I lined up a shot and put a bullet into a bandit's skull near the front of the charge. In my haste to kill the attacking force, I saw that they were all around level twelve, but they had number and surprise on their side. I almost froze when I saw the blood of the man I killed, but my mind calmed itself and my body had already readied the next shot by pulling the bolt smoothly back and pushing home a new round into the chamber. I was trained to fire then move on to the next target and that was what my body wanted to do, so I let it happen.

I fired once more and another man fell to the bullet. All around the field the bandits died due to having no cover whatsoever. My small number of comrades, six in total, and I made short work of the advancing bandits before they even touched our wall. I personally took out ten of the fifty with my quick shooting and thanks to my comrades drawing all the fire. The attack was over before reinforcement had their gear on.

I felt sick from killing, but then I saw Robert's, my replacement, dead body. It was a terrible thing to happen, but they killed an innocent man with a family for no real reason and with no results to show for that action. When that thought took root in my mind, I found myself accepting that I killed people yes, but they did the same. I was surprised by my lackluster response to my first kill, but I didn't really care about it as I didn't care that I killed those bastards. Overall, three of our own died from the assault because of the sheer number of guns they had on us.

I spent the rest of the day helping clear up the clearing and looting the dead for supplies. I found a bunch of lien that I pocketed into my inventory's wallet, many bullets for dust weaponry along with simple things like dice or card sets, which I took one of each as well. I also put one of the assault rifles that used standard dust rounds into my inventory when no one was looking along with a few thousand rounds of ammo for it which came from many of the people that I had to drag into a pile. These bandits were ready for the long haul when they attacked. Didn't mean they meant for it to be a long haul, but if they had reached the wall, they wouldn't have run out of ammo anytime soon.

We burned the bodies in the blood-covered field and had a funeral for our fallen comrades near town hall. Shardis gave a moving speech and the bodies were buried in the town's graveyard. It boiled down to that we will show strength in this time of tragedy and the bandits will never have the pleasure to see us suffer due to their actions.

I went to sleep late into that night once everything was done. My dreams were plagued with the image of my dead comrade. I woke up early, spooked awake by the sound of gunfire from the dream. With a sigh, I washed my face in the bathroom, ready to put this place behind me for a time, get away from battle for a bit.

I loved this place, but I couldn't stay here as I missed my sisters far too much and I had to finish my schooling. I did want to be a hunter, even if the idea to start was due to wanting to be a hero like in the stories. I had since changed that idea into wanting to fight and help keep people like my sisters safe. I also had the power to do so and it would be a waste to let my life be normal when I could make myself into a legend.

I was so eager to just get out, I barely noticed I had leveled up that frantic fight. I was so upset about losing a comrade that I had deleted the message before I could read them. I only noticed thanks to checking if I had gained any strength from moving the bodies which I didn't.

While I waited for the supply runners to come, I opened up my stats to see I had leveled up three times. I am at the proud level of eleven, not even close to the ranks of my comrades. I just pumped all fifteen points into my intelligence to get it near my other combat skills, so I'm not a vapid moron. My mind felt more ready to learn the moment I finalized it. I found it easier to remember everything and felt that if I read a book, I could learn it all in only three reads.

The supplies came in around nine in the morning and I even helped them unload, so it goes quicker. It took a total of five hours to get everything unloaded and packed away. Due to my persistent nature, I gained two strength and vitality points. I do believe I was close with them both though, so I really only got one. I was happy about the strength as my training really didn't focus on power, mostly just endurance and to fight for long-lasting battles.

Shardis came over as the convoy was about to leave. I saluted and he waved his hand, "You're no longer a guard under me. You don't have to salute. Now, saying this, if you ever come back... All you have to do is a refresher course, which is a condensed three month course that is about half as hard as what you did, and I would be glad to have you back on the force. You handled yourself excellently in the attack and I wouldn't mind a guard like you under my command." The man reached out and I shook his hand firmly.

Shardis gave a final nod before heading back to do the paperwork that came with a raid like that. The leader of the convoy shouted, "Boy, you coming or not?!" I looked over and saw everyone was ready to pull out, so I jumped in the back of one of the supply trucks and off they went.

I stayed in the back, cleaning my dust rifle and checking it over. Just by looking at it, the thing was old and battle-scarred, but didn't look to be missing any pieces like some of the weapons I saw on that field.

**Standard issue concussive dust assault rifle – Mass produced dust rifle used in the Faunus war. Uses Dust Assault Rifle rounds**

**200/350**

**30 ballistic**

**4 rounds/second**

It was a good weapon to begin with and had a decent damage output even though my pistol did forty per round, it didn't have the amount of bullets that could be laid down in it like this thing did. It was also cool that this thing had seen battle in a war and made it through.

The ride to Vale only took three hours. Three hours was all it took and I was gone for four months. I didn't know rather to laugh or cry, so I did neither, I punched the side of the truck as hard as I could and let it go. The only evidence of my emotional turmoil was the five inch dent in the side of the alloy haul and my broken fist.

The supply runners dropped me off thirty miles from my house and told me good luck. It was better than nothing, so I flipped up the hood on my oversized guard's casual hoodie, that had the logo of Luka on the back, and began the journey back to my house. The hoodie was a gift to me from Bic, but the man thought I had to grow into it, so he got me an extra-large one that went down to just above my knees. My sidearm was strapped to the inside of the large pocket in front, and my sword, which I got a sheath for, was on the other side for my left hand draw. My gun will take priority over my blade until the target reached me. Priority didn't really matter with this thing on though. I hopefully did not have to fight in it, but if I did, I could pull out the pistol easily.

I made it back to the house around seven. When I saw my front door, I was overcome with a sense of rage that even my skill couldn't break me out of. I stomped up to the door and rang the bell twice, hard enough to slightly crack the buzzer. I heard light footsteps and the door opened to show Susie. My rage washed away like water down a river when I saw my little sister. "Hey Susie. I'm back."

The girl stared up at me, blinking for a second."Brother!" Susie cried as she jumped onto me, legs wrapping around me like a sloth. I laughed and kept her from falling as I walked into the house, kicking the door closed behind me as the ten year old had my arms pinned to my side. "Papa said you were dead!"

"Did he now? I almost was, but I was able to fight off those nasty little grimms and I came back to my adorable little sisters," I replied in a false confident voice for the amusement of the little girl. I barely killed those things and if I fought one now, I might be able to kill one, but two would end my life. Susie gave me a harder hug that would have hurt if it wasn't for all my training.

I carried the girl into the kitchen and set her down on the counter so she'd like go of me. At the stove was my mother who seemed surprise I was here. "Run along Susie, I need to talk with Mom alone," I told my little sister with a smile on my face. Susie looked between us before nodding. She jumped off the counter and was out of the room quickly. Once the girl was around the corner, my smile dropped off my face as if it was never there. "Your husband tried and almost succeeded in killing me. Are you aware of this?"

Mom's eyes grew wide and I analyzed her with the intent to see if she was faking. A box appeared. "Skill acquired! **Insight (Active)**: level 1 – Find the true motives of people" and after I made that go away, the next one was, "**The target is surprised that her husband would do such a thing.**"

With my low level, I could barely see mom lunge forward and pick me up in a bear hug. "Oh my lord, are you alright?!" The hug was hard, but it felt so nice to be hugged by my mom again. She hadn't hugged me since I was eight when I started my combat training, if getting the shit beat out of me with a warhammer was considered training.

I reluctantly freed myself from her grasp before I answered, "I'm fine mom. I found a town two hundred miles north of here and joined their guard until they got a runner to bring me back. I'm better than when I got abandoned." except for the mental trauma of seeing a comrade get his head blown off, the image of an exploding skull between crosshairs burned into my head, and the unending fear of being devoured by the darkness in my sleep during my stay in the forest. All that coupled with the mental scarring of ending over ten people's lives in a battle for a town.

Mom looked me up and down and her gaze lingered on the covered weapon at my waist. My pocket was big enough to hide my pistol from her eyes, but the sheath of my blade stuck out the back of my shirt to my knee. "I learned a lot of sword work and was trained in the use of many firearms. I could probably beat Susie in a fight, but I'm three years older so... That's not all that great."

I felt mom pat me on the head and heard her say, "I'm sure you're great at using the weapons. I think signal tryouts are still open if you want to sign up later. Not today because you just got home and I will NOT let my baby out of my sight!" We talked some more, but when the twins caught wind of me being back, our conversation stopped after I got tackled into a wall by the to be hunters-in-training. I found that Mom was a lot warmer towards me than normal which I put down as her missing me in my four months of absences.

The rest of the day was me playing catch-up with mom and when that was over, I went to bed before Mom's husband came home. That man is no father to me. I got woken up to the two arguing and after an hour, the front door slammed and I heard Thomas Arc's car start-up and drive away. Whatever.

The next week, I didn't do too much of anything other than grind out my skills. I went to Signal and signed up for the tryouts that are to be held a week before school started for the ones denied to get a chance to prove themselves to the instructors.

After that, I didn't stay at home much. I went to the woods and trained my skills as well as hunted down the stray Grimm to fight for the experience. I ended up finding a pack of Beowolves that were all level sevens that I destroyed with only a little difficulty, a few deep gashes along my arms. That however gave me enough experience coupled with my other kills to get me to level twelve. I put some of the points I had in my strength to make it thirty and some in my vitality to make that a good seventy. If I'm going to be a hunter, I'll need to have great fighting stats. The training in Luka was what made my VIT really high. I had to push myself everyday through the pain unless I wanted a sound punishment from Bic. Every day I'd get a message talking about my Vitality. Even with that, I still could not slack off as there were always tougher things out there. I may have been good for my level, but no grimm was weaker than level seven and that was a pack creature, a pathetic pack creature at that, which seemed to have no combat experience. A solo alpha was bound to be in the upper forties. I was nothing compared to true grimm or warriors.

All I did was hunt for the rest of the week's days, but thanks to being so close to Vale, the grimm population was puny and I only killed a few more boars, but not enough to level up. They were all weak too since they were mostly newborns from the darkness, not old enough to know any primal strategy to be all that dangerous. When I had to give up on hunting for the day, I would train my skills up by grinding them using trees.

I eventually gave up on the hunting altogether by the middle of week two and focused on trying to increase my sword mastery. I got it to level twenty-five in the skill by the end of the week and I still had one more week until my try-outs for Signal.

The few fights I was able to get in helped my blade skills along far more than the trees did, but while I got a bunch of experience with every set of skills equal to ten hours of grinding my blade against a tree, there wasn't enough grimm to boost my level enough so I had to put in the time to get the skill up which was fine as it got me more and more familiar with my weapon of choice.

My level may not have gone up once in the week it took for the tryouts, but I got one more in swords and four in hand to hand. The blade felt natural in my hand, like it was just another finger and I had complete control over it. It felt great to just swing the sword and watch the blade go exactly how I wanted it to move, at the exact angle and degree. I had more control over the blade than I did with my toes.

Due to my persistence over the three weeks, I gained a few points in my vitality, what little I really could and two more in strength . The point gain was spread out, but when I got the message that I had increased my skill by working out, I felt so much more accomplished now.

Mom and my sisters worried about me with my constant training, but I just told them I was training for the tryouts and they left me alone mostly, lucky mom's husband didn't come home as much and when he did, he would try to pick a fight with me, but mom would always drive him away. Mom and my sisters still asked about my health once in a while, but I always gave that answer. I did say I enjoyed training too, which I do, so I was also doing my hobby. I grew to love training in Luka as I could literally see my progress as I worked at it. Every number I got and the feeling of fluidity I was slowly getting was the best thing I had ever felt in my short life.

I just had to be back before dark and then I would spend all my time in my room, working out until I couldn't feel my body. I would recover and then do it again before I could no longer go and fall asleep. My workout was basically sprinting around the forest at a steady pace, much like what I did on my first week away from the house. I would run until I truly could do no more, than I would rest. After I could feel my legs again, I picked a tree and went through my fighting style at the poor chunk of wood.

I would beat the hell out of the thing with my longsword, which I had to sharpen every once in a while, netting me the "Sharpening" skill. It was useful as the more levels I got in the skill, the less I had to sharpen my blade.

Once I fell a tree if I had it in me, I would go back to running a few dozen miles in two hours and repeat the sword work again. It would have been truly boring if I hadn't been reading a book at the time of running. I found with my Vitality as good as it was, I could mostly ignore the fatigue until it came to be too much and split my attention between a book and the path.

I even gained a few points in my INT for this as well as WIS for my studying of material and "good use of time." Wisdom really only mattered to me because of its problem solving skills that it brought. I made me think better, not smarter like Intelligence did. I had enough intelligence already to get by, so I think I'll focus on increasing my wisdom to forty, then I'll work on my stats. I had decided to level up my WIS and Int using the methods of practice, saving my points for when I started having a lot of trouble leveling up my combat ability. I only had an finite amount of points, so I couldn't just spend them to do something that I could do with a little effort. That would be stupid and a stupid hunter is more likely to die than a weak hunter, which was also why I was starting to increase my knowledge of things.

On the day before my try-outs, I was out in the forest to train extra hard for the last boost I could get before I had to fight for my position in Signal. I had started the day with some sword work, but I figured that I would need more speed and endurance if I wanted to fight for my place and not use the skill I had such a large level in.

I continued to sprint when a window suddenly popped up in my face. I stumbled over the log I was leaping over and barely got my shoulder down to roll out of the fall. "**Free-Running skill acquired! By leveling Sprint and Gymnastics to level 10, the skill Free-Running that now replaces the two!**" I read the message again before exclaiming, "Fuck!" Did I just lose my fifteen levels in sprint?!

I opened the skills menu and found my fear were true. Instead of having the two skills, I had "**Free-Running (Passive/Active):** Level 1 - Ability to move with greater speed and agility over and on obstacles, +50% movement speed while active 10 MP every 10 seconds, +10% base movement speed." That... Sounded pretty nice actually. I was sad to see my Sprint skill go as it had so much time put into it, but this sounds more like a hunter skill.

I jumped up from my standing position to find I did not lose any height from my jumps and I felt that I could climb any tree in this forest with only a bit of trouble. So I did just that. I ran at a tree and propelled myself two steps up the bark before launching my body upwards further. I caught a branch and used my high amount of strength to pull myself up onto the tree limb.

I glanced down and saw that I was ten feet off the ground just by that one action. I checked the skill and found that I had ten percent more in it due to my actions without the skill being active. I could only grin as I jumped down from the tree.

My legs buckled under the impact and flew out from beneath me, having me land on my rear with a thud. "Ow!" I moaned as I sat on the ground in pain. 'Note to self, roll from falls like that.' A blue screen popped out and said I had gained a Wisdom point for adapting old ideas to new challenges.

I began climbing the tree once more without the skill activated and jumped around to another branch. As my feet hit the tree limb, the wood buckled under my weight and snapped. I felt weightless as I plummeted the twenty feet to the ground and I only just got my bearings as I was about to slam into the dirt.

My feet hit first and I let them collapse, sending me forward where I rolled along my upper back to come to my feet. The straight impact to the ground had hurt, even taken off some health points, but I survived with only a little bit of an ache in my ankles instead of the shattered bones I would have had.

'Well... Back to work I guess,' I thought to myself with a little sigh. A little pain wasn't going to stop me, especially since I would get better after a night's sleep. I climbed back up my tree using the same method and jumped back down. I repeated this for ten minutes until I got a third level in the skill. 'Well... this is boring as hell,' I observed, so I decided that my old training would be of better use to me. I did a few stretches and then took off like I would with my sprint, but I started to see if I could vault myself over the downed trees that I couldn't just jump to try and get my free-running up.

I worked and by the time the day was over, I had six levels in my new skill, mostly due to me almost flying up and down groups of rocks and small mountains that litter the north of the forest and I didn't activate the skill more than once to see how fast I moved. I was about three-fourth my sprint speed, but the adaptability made up for the loss.

Night began to fall as I continued to train up my skills. I had even taken my hoodie off so that I could train my physical endurance up if I had to bust through branches. The limbs no longer damaged my skin thanks to the reduction in damage, only causing blunt force trauma as I broke through the thicker set. I made my way back to my house which took a few hours due to the distance I made in my training. I was closer to Luka than I was to Vale by the end of my training.

To make sure I had six hours of sleep, I activated my free-running skill and started to pound across the forest floor. I pushed myself to go faster and faster, my vision slowly tunneling as my legs kicked up dirt behind me as I dashed towards my house.

I barely had enough stamina and mana to get back to Vale by two in the morning. I had sprinted a hundred miles in seven hours and I was dead tired. My legs felt like they were forged out of cold iron as I trudged up the stairs to the door. I reached into my inventory and pulled out my keys, not even bothering to get my hoodie back on even though I was running around topless.

Unlike before when I wouldn't let anyone see me without a shirt, I didn't mind going without a top. This stemmed mostly from how I usually never had time to dress before I was thrown out into the field for a bout of training. A little came from the small amount of pride that I had rather defined muscles, even to the point where I had my anterior muscles highlighted. My pride was small as I've seen men like Bic and some of the rookie guards without shirts and they made me look like an obese kid.

It took a few tries, but I got the key in the slot with my shaking hands and turned it. The door swung open quietly and I pocketed the key before locking the door behind me. Making sure not to make any noise, I stalked up the stairs to my small bedroom and collapsed on my mattress. I didn't even have the energy to cover myself before I fell asleep. My last thought was, 'I can't believe I can run that far!' Followed by, 'Why the hell did I run that far?'


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry, kinda forgot to upload Tuesday, so here is the next chapter of Gamer Arc**

* * *

Chapter 3

My alarm woke me up at nine in the morning, two hours before my tryouts. With a groan, I picked myself out of bed, refreshed from the sleep I had. My body not even sore from the insane run I had gone on last night. I hopped into the shower and once I felt human again, I put on my hoodie from my inventory which was thankfully clean as I mostly no longer wear a shirt while training, then I went downstairs to make myself some eggs.

Midway through the eggs, I got a mission window in front of me which I read as I stirred my scrambled eggs.

**Quest:  
****Signal Tryouts. Your time to shine is today. Win the match and take the first step in becoming a hunter  
****Reward: 1000 experience, become a student of signal  
****Failure: Lose chance to become student of Signal  
****Denial: Lose chance to become student of Signal**

I accepted the mission as that was the plan for the day. Might as well get experience from it. With that amount of experience, I could finally level up to thirteen, being close to the level, I just needed a few hundred more experience. I was about twenty-seven percent away.

My Mom stumbled into the room as I plated my food and she immediately made a beeline to the coffee machine, her eyes not even open. I watched her fumble with the machine blindly before she somehow managed to get it brewing a pot as she poured out some cereal.

I ate my eggs quickly as she watched her coffee brew, eyes barely opened into slits. "I'm going to go to my tryouts. After that, I'll probably hang out around town for a bit to celebrate. Be back before dark," I told her as I washed my dishes in the sink, getting a level in my dish washing skill.

The woman nodded as she poured herself a cup. I was about to go when she spoke over her mug, "Where were you last night?"

I chuckled to myself and answered, "I was in the woods. I lost track of time and ended up too far away to get back before dark. Wanted to get some last minute training in, you know." I glanced up to see my mother staring at me with suspicion written all over her face.

"Since when has training been important to you, Jaune? You use to always try to hide when your father tried to train you. Now you're going into a Grimm infested forest just to run? What is really going on?" My mother bluntly asked me.

I let my face fall from the sheepish smile into a more natural frown. I answered the woman as serious as I could make my young voice sound, "I got beaten to near death by my 'father' and left to die in that 'Grimm infested' forest. Which is not Grimm infested by the way, I've ran into like three boarbatusk in the month I've been back and one lackluster beowolf pack without an alpha. I was trained to be a guard in a frontier settlement. Is it so hard to believe I want to get more powerful after witnessing the world outside of this city in the way I did? That I want the ability to make the grimms want to run away from me in fear instead of try to tear my throat out when they see me?" I stared at my mother, but she didn't answer me and I didn't wait for one.

I turned around and left quietly, I had a tryout to get to and hopefully pass. Signal was quite far away, about thirty miles away, so I began to run across the city, the thought of using my money for a bus didn't even cross my mind in. 'Why spend my hard-earned money when I can run there and get benefits by doing it too?' I reached the market district in an hour and something, having somehow made my way to the rooftops at a point even I was unclear on.

I was only ten miles from the school grounds and I had an hour to get to the place when I heard a cry from an alley I just jumped over. I doubled back and saw a woman being thrown to the ground by a man with a gun. "I told you to give me your money bitch!" The man shouted as he pulled her off the ground and slammed her thin body into the wall.

I saw enough, so I took a step off the roof and plummeted to the concrete below. I landed hard, letting my legs bow out to help my legs take the impact. If not for the fall reduction I got for having six levels in free-running that coupled with the thirty-two percent damage reduction for my physical endurance, that drop would have hurt a lot more than it did.

I barked out, "Hey! Let her go man!" The moment I landed, already withdrawing my firearm from my pocket. The man turned, dragging the woman into a choke-hold to make her act like a human shield. 'Coward,' I mentally growled.

The man put the barrel of his gun to the woman's chin as he faced me. "Back off kid and no one has to die today," the man slurred out, obviously drunk now that I was closer. The drunkard started gesturing wildly with his gun at me until his finger accidentally tightened around the trigger during his second pass over me.

All I heard was a soft crack and I saw the bullet race out of the barrel towards me. The barrel itself started to fall from the man's hands as he jumped at the sound of his own gun going off. I tried to get out of the way of the relatively slow shot, the sign of a badly made dust weapon, but the attack had caught me flat-footed, not expecting for the man to actually fire the gun so quickly. I barely side-step to my right when the dust round punched clean through my unprotected left pectoral, just missing my lung and heart.

It was non-lethal and thanks to my ability, I would be fine after six hours of rest. That being said, I roared out in pain and in a blind fury, I raised my gun and lined up the bastard's head in my sights before I discharged a round without a thought.

The bullet whipped by the hostage and blew out the brains of the would be robber. I didn't get the sick feeling like I did in Luka as I watched the body drop to the ground, leaving the hostage standing there with tears in her eyes.

I whimpered out my stats to see that the bullet had taken a good fifty percent and I had a status effect for the next thirty minutes. "**Shot – fatally, left lung (15 minutes)** – **bleeding 10 Hp every 15 seconds. Slowed effect – Cut speed down by 20% for 4 days**" I stand corrected, that was lethal. Man, that bullet did JUST enough damage to have made it lethal too. My 940 Health points were useless in my very first fight.

As this correction took hold, I felt my legs give out on me and I collapsed to the dirty ground. I could only sit on the ground as I looked down at the spreading dampness on my chest. This snapped the woman out of her shock as she pulled out her phone. I reached up and tightly clamped the bullet wound, but from the spreading wetness on my back, I knew it was a clean through and through shot. I saw that my status changed a bit for the bleeding to only happen every twenty seconds now that half the wound was pressured.

I gave a wet laugh as I pressed down on my wound, "I can't believe I'm going to die in some shitty alley. Man, I really am a disgrace." As I continued to quietly laugh to myself, a surge went through my lungs, which caused me to almost hack up my heart. It hurt to even think as the fit took hold of me. "Might have been wrong about that lung part too," I observed allowed as I glanced down at my bleeding chest.

**Diagnosis (Passive):** level 1 - The ability to identify an injury or disease before attempting a cure. 10% chance of diagnosing an injury, 10% chance of diagnosing disease with a glance at symptoms

'Go fuck yourself,' I muttered in my mind as I lazily watched the woman frantically shout out our location to the police. I read the next screen to see, "**Gun shot wound – Heavy caliber dust round from a pistol. Nicked the left lung and did extensive damage throughout the left part of the victim's chest. Clean exit wound through the back, missing bone. Heavy bleeding, fatal if not immediately attended to.**"

That seemed useful if this wasn't the end of the road. If I failed becoming a hunter for whatever reason, I could have become a doctor. That would have been a nice goal. Using this ability of mine to save people more directly than killing monsters.

I faintly heard sirens come closer to my position, but with my one hundred health, I'll probably be dead before they could find us. I finally let my head drop to the filthy concrete and relaxed everything but my arm. My stat screen showed that lying down gave me an extra second of life, but with four minutes left of the gunshot wound, I didn't care.

I noticed the woman had flagged down the two medics and they came charging over and slid down next to me. They pulled out bandages and removed my hand from the bullet hole before immediately pressing the cloth into my wound. It hurt like a bitch, but it extended my bleeding intervals by ten more seconds. I even allowed a spark of hope to show when I saw this.

A thought came to mind, 'I'm a fucking idiot.' With my remaining strength, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a couple of berries that I lived off of in the forest and picked during my time I trained there as a pick me up. They were small, but they gave ten points of health each and I had five.

I cupped them in my hand and forced them down my throat, like I just took a pill. The doctors tried to stop me, but they couldn't get a hold of my arm fast enough. My health shot up just enough that when the three minute mark hit, I was still alive and the bleeding had ceased. The pain that came with the gunshot faded to a dull ache as the men worked on the wound to try to get me ready for transport.

My strength slowly returned to me and I sat up, much to the medics' protest. "Quiet," I rasped out, my throat hurting from the coughing fit. I stared at my health as I slowly caught my breath. It had ten points left in it. I suddenly felt nostalgic at the sight of the low number. I hoped most of the turning points in my life didn't begin with me being one percent away from death. "I'm good, just let me go, I have something I need to do that will affect the rest of my life."

"You're not 'good' kid! You took a bullet through your body!" One of the medics nearly shouted. I reached up and poked at the bullet wound, it hurt, but my health was stable and slowly started to climb by a few points a minute. I ignored the man's words and kicked myself to my feet. I felt fine other than the painful dull ache in my torso, so I just bent over and retrieved my firearm from where I dropped it. "Huh?" The medic exclaimed as he and his partner watched me basically shrug off a fatal gunshot wound. A wound which was mostly hidden thanks to my clothing's dark color. Even the bloodstained logo looked intentional, so the only thing that indicated a bullet wound was the hole and great amount of dampness on my shirt and growing red stain on the waist of my pants, but that was covered by the sweatshirt.

I rubbed my shoulder as I holstered my gun to try to alleviate some of the pain. "Name's Jaune Arc. If there are any legal issues for killing that bastard," I lazily pointed at the dead body, "you can find me using that name. I have Signal tryouts to get to." I glanced down at my wound and my stats. The bleeding had stopped, but the slowed status was still going strong. "Probably going to be late and fail though," I muttered to myself as I began running down the sidewalk.

The medics tried to give chase, but they were healers, not athletes. When I saw the opportunity to run up a wall and get to the rooftops, I took it and continued to book it, using my boosted speed from activating the Free-Running skill to try and make it to the tryouts. I had thirty minutes to cover eight miles and my average speed was only ten miles an hour on the roof tops. 'I might not make it.'

I dashed, flipped, tumbled and dove across the rooftops, but I was still a mile away when the tryouts began. I was lucky that the free-running skill gave my jumps the same boost as the running or I wouldn't have made half of the jumps with my slow effect on. "I hope to dust that they reverse the listing or have ten A's!" I screamed to myself as I pushed my muscles to the limit, flying over a street.

I was fortunate enough to come across a straight set of roofs as I sprinted across them, going a good fifteen miles an hour. My increased speed must have been from leveling up my Free-Running at some point in the frantic dash. Just enough bonus to offset the slowed effect by just enough to keep me moving.

I heard an announcer dimly in the distance as I gained on the school. "Final call! Jaune Arc, please come to the stage or you're to be disqualified. Jaune Arc, to the stage!" When I heard this, I let out a wordless roar as I picked up my pace even more, my body physically fighting the increased speed. I felt the mana pouring out of my body with every step I took. I already knew what I activated and knew that I had at most thirty seconds before I ran dry from the heavy requirements of the Overdo skill.

I reached the end of the roof with the school right in front of me. I didn't slow my pace as I veered a bit to the left and flung myself off the three story rooftop. My target was one of the many trees of the school ground.

I braced myself for the impact, tucking my legs in as I wrapped my arms around my head, leaving just a slit for my eyes to peer out of. I slammed through the tree branches, but thanks to the half hour, I had enough points to get through the hit with minimal loss of health. Helped that thirty percent of damaged was shrugged off from the high speed impact.

I burst through the tree and lead with my feet out. I stared at the oncoming concrete with determination in my eyes. This would have been the hardest landing yet and I could not accept failure when I was so close to Signal.

I saw my feet hit the ground and the world twisted in a controlled blur as I let my body roll forward, but thanks to the large amount of momentum that I had built up, I had to continue the rolling in a barrel fashion to bleed off enough speed, so when I punched the ground and heaved my body up, I was able to flip to my feet without pitching forward.

The impact had hurt, but just hurt. The rolling portion aggregated the hell out of my bullet wound, but I was able to ignore the pain enough to execute the final part of the action for my recovery before I slammed into something without a defense.

The moment my feet settled to the ground, I let the pain register and I clutched my shoulder that was in agony. "Fuck! Dammit that hurt like a bitch!" I moaned quietly as I straightened up. I glanced around and I see that I was now in the middle of a crowd of teenagers.

A blonde girl near me suddenly started cheering, "Yeah! That's how you make an entrance!" This sparked off the laughter of the entirety of the hopefuls. They all just pointed at me and I chuckled along with them, thoroughly embarrassed. "Are you Jaune Arc?" I heard someone with a bullhorn call.

I looked around and saw that there were faculty members on the stage, one with a bullhorn staring at me. I nod at him. "Get on the stage so you can tryout!" I jumped to the command and jogged to the stage, my shoulder still clutched tightly to deaden the pain.

I jumped up on the stage and took my position where he pointed. The place that was, was in a painted ring on the stage that was ten person width in diameter. I was already panting, had the slowed effect on me and a bullet hole in my chest. I didn't hold a delusion that I would win, but I hoped that if they saw some of my skill, they'd let me stay.

"Yang Xiao Long, please come forward!" The man with the bullhorn announced. The blonde girl that made the joke about me sprinted forward and jumped up onto the stage, on her wrists were two golden gauntlets which held what seemed like shotgun shells in them. 'Oh good lord, she's going to use me to mop the stage.'

The announcer took a step back and began going over the rules. "Since you were late Arc, the rules are the following; No kill shots, no permanent damage, stay within the ring, the loser fails and the winner passes. Begin!" Yang dashed forward and I barely got my blade out to block the hit. Her gauntlets screeched against my weapon as I parried it to the side and lashed out with a foot on reflex. I sidestepped her next charge and as I dodged, I examined her stats.

**The Vain Dragon  
****Yang Xiao Long  
****Level 20  
****2000/2000  
****480/500  
****STR: 79 x 30%  
****VIT : 43 x 30%  
****DEX: 50 x 30%  
****INT: 18  
****WIS: 10  
****LUK: 10**

'I'm fucked. Again! Why does she have huge boosts?!' I screamed in my head as I ducked a blazing left hook that gave off a deafening explosion from the shotgun shells in her weapon. The girl kept me on the defensive as I spun and rolled out of the way. I tried to draw my pistol, but my arm was too slow and stiff to be of any use other than dead weight.

'Damn you for being some stupid knight in shining armor, Jaune!' I scolded myself as I got clipped by a right jab to the face.

The clip nearly broke my nose as I took it straight on. The only reason it was a clip was that I leaned back enough that it didn't shatter my skull. I gave a flurry of swipes with my sword as I tried to break her advantage, but all the dodging had me tired that was only made worse from the overdo boost I used. At the moment, I had 40 out of the 880 mana at my disposal.

I increased my natural speed to the limits without letting any mana enter the equation. Yang seemed to only get faster as the fight drew on, so I checked her scores again to see if she was using any mana to increase her speed.

I gave another flurry of swings, the sword not moving in any particular style, just focused on getting blows in when it could. The blade met metal as Yang blocked every blow I had, or if it was too close, she would punch it to the side, creating opens that made me retreat so she wouldn't get a hit in. The fight was drawing on way too long, far longer than it should have been with her level of skill, so I observed her stats once more in a lull as we circled one another, a slight breather.

**The Vain Dragon**

**Yang Xiao Long  
****Level 20  
****1830/2000  
****300/500  
****STR: 79 x 60%  
****VIT : 43 x 60%  
****DEX: 50 x 60%  
****INT: 18  
****WIS: 10  
****LUK: 10**

Yang was doing something as she had a ridiculous boosted stat, but with the time the fight was drawing at, the effect didn't consume much mana as we had been fighting, or she had been fighting, for five minutes at that speed and only was down two hundred mana.

I saw her feint and knew from the pattern she had set up that she was aiming for a uppercut that would be it for me. I leaned back as I lashed out with my sword, just skimming her hair, cutting a bit off, but nothing more. I had missed another window! I backpedaled to get out of the kickboxer's range, but she oddly didn't follow. In the lull as she stared absently in the air, I saw her stats boost with a one hundred percent bonus in a flash. I quickly tore off my hoodie to save it from destruction and pulled my pistol as I did this. This was non-lethal, but my hoodie had already taken a beaten today.

I had to glance down and what I saw wasn't pretty in the least. The bullet wound was jagged and wide open. There was still a leakage of blood that was slow enough to be covered by my regeneration, but thanks to that and the time it had been there, my left side was coated in the red substance.

I tossed the clothing out of the ring as I brought the pistol up. Yang slowly looked up at me and I saw why her title said she was a dragon. The girl's eyes were a bright red with fury I've only ever seen in Grimm clearly displayed in her sparkling orbs. A small message set screamed at me over the feeling of dread that was encapsulating me. "**Sense Danger leveled up!**" Flashed all many times along my left eye."Shit!" I cried as I started discharging pistol rounds at her limbs, but her arms blurred and knocked the bullets away with ease.

I charged the girl, my sword raised to get a strike in, but in a flash, the exchange was over. I saw a hint of orange and suddenly, an incredible amount of pain ripped through my chest as I was thrown back and to the edge of the ring. I laid on the ground for a moment to catch my breath.

I suddenly felt a sense of dread wash over my body that came with Sense Danger. I kicked my feet under me and dove forward, just in time to avoid Yang's follow-up strike which cratered the stage. I knew there was no victory in this for me anymore. I knew this but I could accept it, there was no way in hell I was leaving this ring under a surrender. I flipped to my feet, ignoring the burning on my chest as I gripped my shoulder lightly.

Yang was prowling around me like a cocky predator, knowing that she had the fight in the bag. The sight of dismissal enraged me. 'After all the work I had to do to get to this level, my peers will not look down on me!' I let loose a snarl as I darted forward.

I gave quick swings that were matched by the much faster Yang. She had me on strength and speed, but I'd be damned if I couldn't outlast her, no matter what my wound was! I snarled like a dog as I ducked under her hit and jabbed my pistol forward, striking the center of her throat, causing her to cough for a second.

I launched myself forward into her guard and jumped up. I led my attack with my knee which she barely caught near her face. The loss of momentum was already accounted for as I pitched forward. My hands found their place on her collars as I pushed myself into a handstand on her shoulders.

I used this new position to drive my knees down towards her face, but she knocked my hands off her shoulders. I recovered a bit as I wound my hands in her hair and pulled her head into my still incoming knees.

The hit was solid and she recoiled back hard enough to knock my grip off her head. I landed in a crouch and barely rolled out of the way of a mule kick to my jaw. I pushed myself to my feet mid-roll, so I could come up swinging. As my feet tapped the ground, my thumb found home in the magazine release on my pistol as I went back into my assault on the dragon.

I swung my blade from overhead to my right and followed through with my whole body, my magazine zipping out of the gun and clattering to the side. I dropped my left shoulder and brought my foot up in a kick that yang blocked, but my goal was met. Yang pushed my foot back, causing me to hit the ground once more, but I was once more able to roll to my feet.

We took to stalking around each other in a circle. I slammed home a new clip without taking my eyes off the blonde. The girl had not calmed down in the slightest, but one look at her Mp and I found that this beserker boost she had was sapping down her mana like my overdo skill does.

Once the slide clicked shut with a new chambered round, we broke our silence and charged at each other in a blur of limbs. I spiced up my fighting with the occasional bullet, but no matter what, yang was able to block or knock the bullet out of the way. It didn't matter that I was within hugging distance, she somehow kept up with me while keeping an arm out for my gun.

I was tiring, no, I was already tired when I went into the ring, I was almost pass out exhausted as I swung my ten pound longsword over and over again, trying to get that one strike in that could turn the tides into my favor. Yang was doing the same, but it was I who broke first. I missed a strike, not redirected, not parried, I missed an overhead swing and I expected resistance when I swung. My blade was out of my control for a small fraction of a second, but Yang capitalized on the mistake even with the short amount of time.

A metal gauntlet found its place in my jaw and a follow up exploded one of the remaining shells of fire into my chest, further singeing it as the blow threw me back. I could only roll along the ground from the bone-cracking hit and let myself lie there panting. After a pause, I rolled onto my stomach and pushed myself onto my hands and knees before finally stumbling to my feet. "That's my loss," I panted out to myself as I tried to calm my aching heart.

I looked over to see the girl sucking in breath right next to me, her eyes back to the lilac color that she started with. I grabbed my shoulder to try and stop the pulsing pain that had flared to life in the battle, but it didn't help. "Good fight miss," I mumbled loud enough to be heard by the girl.

A wash of sadness swept through me at the thought of failure, but I found I didn't care too much. I was a Luka guard and in a few more levels, I'll equal them in power along with the training and I could always become a Tyro hunter. Sure I would have to go to a battle academy when I was old enough, but if I played my cards right, I could get into Beacon to learn from the best. Due to missing the fundamental year, there was no way of going joining Signal later in life.

Being a Tyro hunter would suck though as I would have to do solo studying to prepare for the academy while going out every other day to hunt down Grimm problems until I reached the D class. I heard for my father that a Tyro could go through F, E, and D jobs after just taking a test for each, but to do anymore needed a full license by graduating a battle academy.

I didn't say a word as I picked up my magazine and hoodie from the ground. I hung the hoodie off my shoulder as I didn't care to put it on, even with my pitiful physique in full view. I just go to walk off the stage and began my trek home to go to bed. I would be waking up to a nasty scar, but at least it wouldn't be the open wound it was now. I'd be fine in four days when that slow effect will let me be.

I felt a hand slam into my good shoulder as I was just about to hop off the stage. I looked back to see Yang staring at my bullet wound, "Are you alright man?! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you so bad!" As she finished her panicked question, I saw tears in her eyes.

I shrugged the hand off with a chuckle. I didn't feel like laughing, but she looked so distraught. "You didn't. This was from a mugger that I stopped like half an hour before I got here. Now the burn on my chest is yours. Good hit too." I gave her a grimaced smile as I pointed at where she had hit. The skin was slightly blistered from the intense heat that came from the hits that was thankfully lacking in small balls of metal.

I patted her on the arm and hopped off the stage, my legs buckling from exhaustion, but I ignored it as I slipped my bloody top on. My bed beckoned me and who was I to refuse its call.

I was able to leave the ground unimpeded and walked a distance away before going into a random alleyway to sit down. I placed my head in my hands before letting out a muffled scream of frustration. "I can't believe I lost!" I let loose a drawn out yell into my hands before my skill took hold and I relaxed against the brick wall, waiting for my health to go up. I had nearly full health when I fought the dragon girl, but it was down to a third from the beating I took from her. That girl would be going far even without the bonuses to her stats, I could feel it in my bones. There are basic math for her abilities that stats what she can and can't do and then that pure viciousness and power that this "Game" couldn't calculate. That aggression would make her a dangerous enemy to many people and Grimm.

Once I had let my mana filled up to the halfway point, I left to get back to the house to fix myself up. I only got a few strange looks when they saw that my pants had quite a bit of blood down one leg and my hoodie was wet, but no one bothered me as they had things they were doing. I was walking and not dying on the ground, so I should be okay, right?

I didn't run as I just didn't feel like it at the moment. "I guess I'll go to the hunter's office after I wake and take the Tyro hunter exam. I should be able to pass for the F tier that most Signal students do," I muttered to myself as I walked into the residential district. I got to my house and without a word, walked upstairs. I took a shower, prepped my clothes for the washer and did my laundry before I went to bed. I knew from experience with washing hunter clothing that blood, human or grimm, was a pain in the ass to get out if the crimson fluid had time to set.

I woke up on my own and checked the time on my alarm clock. It was nine at night. A disadvantage with the gamer set-up that I had noticed early on was the fact I couldn't sleep in. Once I had six hours of rest, I had to get up or do something for the next eighteen hours or until I had emptied my health to some degree. Frankly, it annoyed the hell out of me when I was training with Bic. If the man noticed I was up, I was ready for more hardcore training due to me being "Well rested."

I yawned out of habit as I turned off my alarm clock and got out a clean pair of jeans. 'I guess I could go have some fun on the town or something,' I thought to myself as I pulled the loose clothing on. I checked out my chest to see that there was a fresh scar just to the right of my heart. Damn, that was closer than I thought it was. I went to retrieve my clothing from the dryer and slipped on my hoodie. I put away my now cleaned jeans and grabbed my keys from my dresser.

I slipped on my weapon belt that I kept in my inventory, reloading my pistol as I strapped everything on. Once I had a fresh clip in my weapon of choice, I stalked out of the house to avoid awakening anyone. This was almost for not as I nearly screamed like the bitch I am when a window popped out in front of me. Once I calmed my heart, I read the window and grinned, "**Stealth (Passive/ Active):** Level 1 – Ability to sneak around without being seen or heard. +10% quieter everything, -10% scent. Active, +30% quieter everything. Scent is eliminated, 20 MP every 10 seconds" I could see so many uses of this skill if I ever became a hunter.

I quietly left the house and started to free-run along the rooftops, but this time, I kept the stealth active as I dashed across the roofs to avoid waking up the inhabitants. As I ran, I slowly gained levels in the stealth skill and I found that the skill didn't warp reality around me to accomplish the effects, but gave me subconscious knowledge on how to move correct enough to achieve the desired effect while manipulating my body to reduce the scent I let out. I was much like how I was with a blade, but more noticeable.

The skill affected how I knew how to let my feet fall, how to move my arms for balance and how to take air in as well as breathing out. The physical element that I made out was that my heart beat was quieter and my bones didn't crack or creak. Along with the movement knowledge came with how to wear armor and clothes to minimize the noise that it would make.

All this I knew the moment my skill started to level up and with each level came more and more knowledge. I finally came to a stop when I heard loud music, letting my stealth skill go at level four. It barely reached that fourth level, having taken three hours of constant roof sneaking to get there. I'll only get harder from there, I can feel it. I had to take a deep breath from the severe lack of mana I felt as I kept the thing active to level it up faster. Coupled with active free-running and I was a tired camper.

As I was breathing, I noticed a flashing window to my side. I focused on it and it revealed that I had reached level fifty in DEX. I had gained a new skill. "**Dexterity Affiliation (Passive):** Level 1 - +5% coordination, +5% base speed."

That almost made up for my clipped lung. Hopefully that will be as simple to level up like the vitality counterpart was. That one, I just had to force myself over my limits day in and out to increase my stamina. This one, I guess I would need to do something with my hands as well as go faster with things.

After catching my breath along with closing the windows, I straightened up and walked into the club that I found myself in front of. The bouncer, who wore this nice suit, nodded at me as I entered. 'I'm in a seedy part of the city, aren't I?' I asked myself in my head. What bar would let a fourteen year old guy in who at most could be mistaken for fifteen.

I ignored the fact that I was let into the club as I started walking around the outskirts of the dance floor to get to the bar. I knew how to dance with the best of them thanks to Susie being one of the top dancers at her school's club and the fact she needed a male partner that could keep up with her. Being great at the art didn't mean I enjoyed dancing too much. It was good to know, but not something I would go out to do by myself.

I sat down at the bar and ordered my drink, "A beer, the cheapest you have." Might as well find out what was so great about the drink.

The bartender stared at me for a second before pulling a pint out from his bar and pulled the fluid from the tap. "Three." I handed him the lien as I took the alcohol. I took a sip of the liquid and found it to be alright. Nothing too special about it and as I had expected, a window popped up to the side of my vision. "N**ew category! Drug Tolerance! Alcohol (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to hold drink. -1% penalty and negative effects."

What did it mean, penalty? I analyzed my drink and the stats popped out.

**Beer, Blue Sun  
****Effects: -3 INT, -3 WIS, +3 STR for 1 hour  
****Penalty – 25 points in drunken meter  
****Stacks with other alcoholic beverages**

That skill was going to be useful later in my life. I finished off my beer and set it on the bar where the tender took it. I checked my stats and saw that I did have a negative next to my INT and WIS along with the boost to STR. I wondered how getting drunk helped how strong I am, but I let that slide because I didn't care anymore. I noticed a new vertical bar with a beer bottle at the bottom of it showed up next to my name. It was small with a numerical value of 25/40 and the word "sober" under it. My drunken meter I presume. This whole thing was just too weird to even try and explain to myself.

I saw movement on my immediate right and looked over to see a large man in a black waist coat, dress shirt and black slacks next to me. The man looked to be around mid-twenties as he lounged against the counter. The red tie he had on tipped me off that he was probably part of the guards in the club. The man looked over and we met eyes through his red sunglasses which I internally questioned the effectiveness of with us inside.

"Where you get the hoodie, kid?" The man asked as he turned back to watch the dance floor.

I shrugged and answered, "Luka. Got it for my brief service in their guard." I turned around in my seat to watch the dance floor as well.

"Really? Is Shardis still the captain there?" The man asked with surprise evident in his voice. I looked over and saw him staring at me. I nodded my head as an answer to the question. The man grinned once more when he saw the confirmation.

I asked the strange man, "You live in Luka before?"

The stranger nodded, "Yeah. Did five years in the guard." At this I analyzed him to see who he was. If he was a guard for that long, he must be really powerful.

**[Leader of the Axe Gang]  
****[Proprietor of Junior's Club]  
****Hei "Junior" Xiong  
****Level 30  
****4800/4800  
****700/700**

'And he was the owner of the joint as well as leader of a gang. Those luck points are sure paying off,' I snarked to myself as I listened to the man talk.

"I was young though, so I decided to come to the big city and make a living here. Must say, kind of safer."

I nodded, "Lot less bandits around that are ballsy enough to attack, that's for sure." The man laughed at my input as he beckoned the bartender for a drink. I reached out a hand, "Jaune Arc."

The man grabbed it in a firm grip, "Junior Xiong." We released our shake and he grabbed his shot of liquor. "So what brings you to my fine establishment tonight?" The man questioned as he downed the shot in one gulp with a grimace.

I once more shrugged, "Failed my entrance to Signal earlier, didn't want to dwell on it so I went where my feet took me."

The man stared at me, "How the hell did a Luka guard fail to get into Signal? I mean, it's a tough school and all, but you have live battle experience if you were there for more than a month!"

I scratched the back of my head, "I kinda... Took a bullet to the chest earlier today, like right before my match, from a mugger that was attacking a woman. Clipped a lung, so I was a little slow and weak when I went for the fight. Didn't help that my opponent was a beast at hand to hand either." I muttered my answer as I played with the hole in my hoodie. "Need to fix this thing," I told myself quietly as I looked at the ripped section.

The man let out a belly laugh as my tale and slapped me on the back, rather hard too, "That proves you're a Luka guard without a doubt. Only one of use would be hard enough to ignore a grievous bullet wound!" I didn't say anything as I watched the dance floor. "So... Are you still aiming to be a hunter or no?"

"Yeah, going to be a part time Tyro-hunter to get the experience for Beacon. I figure if I get fifty D-ranks done before I'm seventeen, I should be able to get into that school regardless of my schooling." The only problem was to get the licensing for going on D class jobs. I would need fifty Fs and one hundred Es to qualify.

The man nodded before staring blankly at a moment. When I started to worry something was wrong, he spoke up, "If you want, you could work here at nights for a job to pay for your outings as a Tyro. I would gladly have a Luka trained man on my staff to handle more of the special issues that arise in this place. Just as long as you don't mind what goes on in here."

I didn't reply as I watched the dance floor. I analyzed a few people as well as casted some insight on a few of the dancers. The majority were citizens, mostly young adults that were there to find some cheap thrills and sex. I saw a few drug users and dealers in the crowd, but after what had happened to me, I couldn't bring myself to care what they did. "Sure. I'll still have school and Tyro hunting, so I might not be able to work sometimes though."

I saw the man grin out of the corner of my eye. "That's fine. I'll give you your schedule for the next week on Fridays, just call me if you can't make it. I just need your scroll or phone number and I'll send you the times tomorrow."

We shook hands and I had another beer before heading out to go train more. At seven, I had to go sign up for civilian school as I'm not ignorant in the workings of the world, I can't just skip out on school because I couldn't get into the school that I needed for my future. Afterward, I would be going to the hunter's hall for the Tyro exam. I jumped back up onto the rooftops and snuck my way through the town on the roofs. I gained a few levels in free-running and one more in stealth to get to level five. My passive state was now twenty-six percent quieter and I smelled thirty-six percent less. I still found the smell part weird, but I guess a Faunus could use the smell of a human to help do lookout, plus grimms had great senses.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry, Kinda forgot to upload this Tuesday. It was just too cold to really think.**

* * *

Chapter 4

Once I got to the forest, I stored my hoodie and started to train my hand to hand against the trees around me. I tried to do some of the punches that Yang used on me, but I found that, like me, she used mostly a heavy brawler style that was completely reactive with elements of kickboxing here and there. One could only get faster in that style, it wasn't specific moves that were used. By sunrise, I had gained three levels in the art of throwing punches and kicks. This had the skill rounded to ten, giving me a fifty percent boost to my hand to hand fighting. Since I hadn't used any protection for my hands, I even gained a level in physical endurance, putting the skill to seventeen and taking thirty-five percent of the damage away from attacks. Once more, that skill had saved my life.

When I finished beating the tree, leaving it with a foot deep dent, I headed back home to shower and start my day anew even though I had been up ten hours by that point. I was able to get into the house without anyone hearing me and cleaned up in only a few minutes. Once I had fresh clothes on, I left before I could be spotted and went to the Carroll district high school, which was only five miles away, being one of the ten citizen schools within Vale's residential district. The city did a good job making sure schools were easy to access for normal people.

I wasn't long before I made it to the school, only a slight five minute run over the rooftops. It felt nice to just run with no deadline to what I was doing. In the woods I would be training and focused on improving, so I never really got the full joy of leaping over large gaps like I had here. Midway through my flight, I remembered that I was going to be a citizen, so... no weapons. With a heavy heart, I stored my blade into my inventory, but kept my pistol hidden in my sweatshirt. "_If I find that you were ever unarmed on your own will, I will personally come down there and break my leg kicking the shit out of your dumb ass!"_ I heard echo in my mind. A threat I had no doubt that Bic would go through with as the man was quite violent.

I gave a simple leap off the five story building I had found my way up on and landed two stories down on the roof of the school. I took a deep breath to steady my breathing rate as I walked over to the edge of the building, looking around for a simple way down. I saw it as the flagpole next to the building that didn't have any flags put up at the moment.

I glanced at the distance before getting the proper build up and throwing my body off the roof. I reached out with both hands and grabbed the metal pole, letting my momentum twirl me around it three times before I was able to bleed off enough to slide down it using the standard fireman slide.

I bounced off the pole and flicked out my arms, letting the tension out of my shoulders that came from the force of my swings. I placed my hands into my hoodie, my hands caressed the holstered gun in my pocket. I entered the building through the main entrance and turned right to get to what looked like the main lobby.

The two secretaries looked up when they heard the door open. "Hello, how can I help you?" One of the women asked while the other one went back to work.

"Am I too late to enroll in this school? Sorta failed the Signal tryouts and my family didn't have a back-up plan."

The woman gave me a sympathetic look as she tapped at her keyboard. "Name?"

"Jaune Arc," I answered as I looked around the room.

I heard a few more taps of the keyboard when I heard a tsking sound. I looked over at the woman to see her looking up from her computer. "It says here that you didn't finish primary school Mr. Arc."

I blinked before rubbing my eyes. "I knew I was forgetting something," I groaned before looking back at her. "Is there anyway that can be overlooked? There was a... family matter that kept me from school for the last two months of the year." I chuckled as I rubbed the back of my head, nervous that I would have to repeat the year because of the muscle-bound moron's actions.

The woman shook her head, "I'm sorry but all students must graduate primary school before they may move onto our school. You'll have to get that sorted out with your old school."

I let my shoulders slump in defeat. 'Wow, nothing is going my way these days.' I nodded at the woman, "Thanks for your time anyways." I turned on my heels and left the room, silently raging in my head. 'That goddamn low life piece of beowolf shit of a father! I swear if he wasn't a big name huntsman, I would tear off his fucking balls!'

I forwent running back to the house and decided to just walk the streets. As I walked, I felt a buzzing in my back pocket. I pulled the object out and saw I had an email from Junior. It was my time table and I started working next Monday at five and got off at three. That seemed a reasonable enough time for the type of establishment the man ran.

I pocketed my scroll again and continued walking down the sidewalk. It took thirty minutes to reach my house and I entered, for once announcing my arrival. "I'm home!" I had noticed Thomas's car was in the driveway, so I knew the man was somewhere in the house. I walked into the kitchen to find him eating lunch at the table. The moment I saw him, I slowly placed my hands in my pockets as I looked over at mom. "I have an issue with my schooling."

I heard an unwanted voice answer me, "Yeah, you failed to get into Signal, AGAIN!" The man yelled from the table.

"Well sorry for going against a woman that went fucking berserk and was an expert in hand to hand! The girl could punch bullets out of the air and I had just gotten shot in the lung on my way there!"

"You got shot?!" I heard my mom shriek. "We need to get you to the hospital!" The woman ran over and tried to drag me, but I dug my foot in to stop her. It nearly tore my shoulder out of the socket, but I manage to not be dragged like a rag-doll.

I shook my head as I shrugged off her arm, "I'm fine-ish now, still hard to breath, but I found I had an ability to heal from serious injuries rather quickly in my time within the guard. That's not the problem here. The problem is that you made me miss the last two months of school so I never graduated! I can't enroll in high school because of you!" I shouted at the man sitting at the table.

"It's not my fault you're too stupid to get into a combat school that lets in everyone! Nor that you are too weak to fight the people that were too stupid not to get in too!" The man shouted at me as he jumped up from the table.

"Shut the hell up old man! I can kill grimm just fine, but that woman could beat the hell out of a good many people! I told you, she wasn't even in battle school and she could deflect bullets, gunpowder slugs!" I yelled at the man as I leaned onto the table. "Could you do that when you were thirteen?! Hell, can you do that even now?! You mostly just sit on your fat ass all day!"

The man grabbed the edge of the table in his big hand and in one swift motion, he threw the large wooden table to the side. In three big steps, he was inches from me while staring down into my eyes. I didn't let any of the fear I had show in my face as I met his glare with my own. 'I'm going to so fucking die!' I screamed in my head, but I was able to keep the panic from my eyes.

I noticed an indicator to the side, but I ignored it as I continued to stare up at the large tank in front of me. "Do you want to fight boy?!" The huntsman snarled at me, giving me a rough shove that sent me hurling back. I was able to smoothly roll out of the fall and in a few quick steps I bumped my chest against the man's stomach, back where I started, but my fear was slowly turning to rage that was just slightly muted with the help of the gamer mind.

I gave my own snarl as I replied, "Yeah, I do, you big bastard!" On these words, the man grabbed me by my collar and picked me up. Before I could register what was happening, the man threw me and I was in flight for the second time from the high-leveled huntsman. Like before, my back slammed into an unyielding surfaces with a meaty thud and a flash of pain that blazed through my spine.

Unlike before, I didn't stay on the ground and the moment I began to bounce off the wall, I reached down and caught myself in a one-armed handstand, doing a frontflip to get back to my feet. The moment my feet hit the floor, I was moving across the room and swung a quick combo at the older man's chest.

The hits were solid, but he didn't give any indication they hurt as he drew his arm back and gave me a solid backhand across the room. I went ass of tit back into the wall, creating a Jaune sized dent in the plaster as I once more hit the surface. This time, my brain was too rattled from the heavy blow to catch myself and I landed in a heap.

Like when I was beat all those months ago, I felt a boot slam in my ribs. This time, I felt the bones clearly snap from the impact. I gave a hard cough as I tried to get to my feet, but I was pulled up by big hands and once more threw. This time, my trajectory was into the kitchen part of the room, so I hit the metal fridge hard enough to dent the door. I felt my consciousness swimming before I barely fought off passing out from the damage. I had hit my head pretty hard on the door.

Once more, I was pulled up until my feet hung limply off the floor. I was able to turn my head to see Thomas's face a bright red with fury in his eyes. "If you ever think you can take me again, you better put on a better show then that you pathetic little whelp!" The man dropped me for a second, but before my feet could fully take my weight, the man's big hand wrapped around my face and drove my head back into the fridge door.

I blinked awake to find myself on our couch with mom sitting in an armchair next to me. The woman was fiddling with a sword, sharpening it as she waited for. I presume, me waking up. I saw a message flash in front of my eyes as I blinked, "**Knocked out from combat – 25% Hp and Mp recovered.**" I blinked the message away. Another message opens up and I read it as it popped up.

**Acting (Passive):** Level 2 – Put on a convincing role that is not your own. +2% quality of acting

I guessed I got that from standing up to the jackass. Once I dismissed the message, I sat up and patted my ribs. I heard my mother drop her sword, but I was focused on my health which was about in the middle. I still had my slowed effect on, but that was it. My ribs felt solid, so I nodded and got off the couch.

I looked over at my mother to see her staring at me, more specifically, staring at my chest. "I told you I healed quickly," I sighed as I stretched the kinks out of my body. Without saying another word, I left the room and I heard mom scrambling to follow. I hopped up the stairs, taking them three at a time until I reached my room where I grabbed my clothing and everything I own into a duffle bags.

As I was packing up my things, I noticed mom by the door, watching me. "What are you doing?"

I shrugged as I zipped up the bag. "Leaving. I believe I will continue to provoke that man until he kills me, so I best leave before he does so." I grabbed the bag and not caring that my mother was watching, tossed it into my inventory. "I'll text you my address when I get settled. Please text me about the school situation if you can settle it. I don't want to repeat a year."

"Wha-, how? What did y-?!" The woman stuttered as she stared at the empty air in front of me that I had just thrown my dufflebags. I took advantage of the confusion to step past her and get out of the house. Before anyone could think of following me, I was sprinting across the roofs once more. This time, I was moving faster than I would normally, not bothering to sneak or lessen my footfalls, so while I made noise, I was moving at a good pace.

I finally slowed down near the ghetto part of the city, so I flipped off the roof and landed in an alley, my hands in my pockets to keep them controlled. My gun was still in my holster, so I didn't have to worry about having a weapon on my person, not that I would have with the rifle and sword I had stored away.

I threw my hood over my head, the fur lining the inside was a bit warm in the heat, but it was comfortable enough to tolerate. I had about six hours before I had to get to Junior's, so I hunted around for a place I could buy some food at.

There was a stall around the corner from me to my convenience. They sold some black type of meat that, while looking awful, did smell something wonderful. I walked over to the man and asked, "What are you selling?" The man, a bull faunus judging by the type of horns he had, looked at me hard.

I watched him look me up and down before he grunted out, "Go away human, you wouldn't like this meat."

"Wouldn't I be a better judge of what I would enjoy? What, is it grimm or something?" The man gave a brief, but sharp nod. 'Didn't know people ate grimm, but I always wondered what a Boarbatusk tasted like.' I looked at the meat before saying, "If you got any boarbatusk, I buy some off you."

The man looked at me with a confused light behind his eyes. When he didn't move, I said, "I may be human, but I've fought a few of the bastards and want to get a one up on them. What better way is there than by eating their cousin for lunch?"

The bull faunus snorted out a laugh as he pulled out a stick with what looked to be black pork on it. "Nine Lien." I handed over the money and took the stick. "Come again human, you amuse me." I waved at him with my free hand as I bit into the meat. It was tough and chewy, but the juices inside were delectable. I likened it to a good jerky that was still juicy.

I was quick to finish the meat off. 'Who knew that grimm tasted so good? I'll have to cook me up some boarbatusk next time I kill one.' I absently tossed the stick into one of the trash cans lining the road as I walked. 'Might as well get my Tyro-hunter license. I got time."

This in mind and my stomach full, I pulled out my scroll and searched for the address of the nearest hunter's building. It was only twenty miles to the north, so I memorized the directions before sliding the scroll in with my pistol. Never know when I pickpocket could try for my stuff.

It took a three hours to get there from constantly walking. I had to get the test over with and head out to Junior's right quick afterward. I pushed open the glass door and saw a few loitering teams of hunters all chatting around with a secretary behind a desk doing something on his computer.

I nervously walked over to the desk and the man looked up, "How can I help you today sir?"

"Hello... Um... Is this the place I go to register for being a Tyro-hunter?" I asked, unsure of myself now that I was in the building.

The man nodded, "Indeed it is. Please fill out this form and return it to me when it is full." The man gave me a clipboard with a pen attached to it. I hesitantly took it and shuffled over to a nearby wall where I leaned against it as I filled out the paperwork. It was basic stuff like my name, scroll number, and a few other basic things. It was simple and I finished it in only a few minutes. After looking over everything, I went and handed it back to the man.

The secretary looked it over before nodding. "Okay, now you take this number and go down the hall on your left. Go to the room that says Tyro-hunter registry and they will give you the test. Good luck." The man once more handed me an item, this time a slip with the number four on it and I took it. I put the slip in my pocket as I followed the man's directions on where to go.

As I walked away from the desk, I got a quest.

**Quest:  
****Become a Tyro-Hunter and gain experience in the good fight  
****Reward: 5000 experience, become Tyro-Hunter  
****Failure: Do not become a Tyro-hunter. Cool down is a weeks time**

I absently accepted it without a care as I continued do the hall to find where I had to go.

Thankfully, I didn't get lost and found the room easily. I opened the door to see a waiting room with two people sitting in chairs that looked to be a few years older than I am. I quietly took a seat next to them. As my bottom hit the chair, a number flashed in red over a door, two. One of the waiting people hopped to their feet and went through the door. A moment after the door shut, a woman walked out with downcast eyes and left the room.

I gulped as I watched the person leave the room, obviously having failed the test. I started to question if I was ready to do this. Sure I was a Luka guard, but I was one of the worst on the force, only really good at sword play, but I was far too slow and weak to capitalize on that. In five minutes, another number flashed above the door and the last guy in the room jumped up and quickly entered the room.

My heart sank a bit more as the man that went in left with an angry look in his eyes and punched the door frame as he left, leaving cracks in the wooden frame. I stewed in my own questions until my number finally came up.

I hesitantly got to my feet and walked towards the door. Before I got to it, I saw the second person swing the door open and hurry out of the room, the upset look on their face did not help my resolve. I slowly entered through the door and saw another door at the end of a long hall.

I walked down the hall, my footsteps echoing along the tiled floor as I walked. Every step sounded so loud and it finally came to a stop outside of the door. I wiped my palms on my jeans before taking a deep breath to calm my nerves. 'You've trained for months. You will be fine!' I shook my head and opened the door to see a room with an older gentleman sipping on a bottle of grape soda, standing in the middle of a ring. 'Dammit.'

The man, a balding guy with slight wrinkling on his forehead, but with muscles to spare, spoke up when he saw I was inside the room.

"Welcome. Here is the test for today, you will have to touch me in the next five minutes. If you do this, you will move onto a demonstration of your other skills. If I see you are adequate, you will be given an F class license." The man grabbed a timer and hit a button before tossing it to the side. "Begin."

I blinked at the man before asking, "So can I use anything except lethal weapons to try and touch you?"

"You can even use lethal weapons, just don't aim to kill." I smirk at this answer and pulled out my blade from my inventory. I may not be able to beat the man, even I could tell that without analyzing him, but with a blade in hand, I could get a good hit in. The man gave a whistle at the trick as I unsheathed the weapon and pulled out my handgun from my pocket. In a flash, I had the weapon up and firing at the man's limbs while I charged with the blade tight against my side.

The man deftly spun around the incoming bullets and as I reached him, he ducked under my tight swing before lashing out with his leg. I saw it coming, so I did an aerial flip over his leg to dodge the blow. As my leading foot touched down, I lashed out with an axe kick from my already raised leg causing the man to skip back. I didn't give him breathing room like I did the kick boxer, I kept up my assault at the man and he was slowly beginning to slow down before I did something he didn't expect.

I gave a nasty thrust at his midsection, but as he bent forward to dodge the blow, I swung my head in and gave the man a solid headbutt to his teeth. The blow cut my forehead something awful but it was a touch. With a grin, I ignored the blood flowing out of my head and down my nose as the man shook off the hit. "Nicely done youngster. Any other skills beside that weird semblance thing and what you showed?"

I couldn't help but wonder what a semblance was, but I nodded my head. "I do not have one on me, but I am proficient with a sniper rifle and while I do have an assault rifle on me, target practice isn't that impressive to see if the person isn't getting a bullseye with every shot."

The man scratched his chin before nodding. "You have enough skills to take down small grimms, I give you that. Alright, I think I have seen enough" The man walked over to a wall and opened a panel. Inside was a little ID card. The man tossed it over and I barely caught it before it hit the ground. I saw it to be blank with the name, picture, and all the personal information. "Take that to the person out front and they'll make that card something you can use. Welcome to the force for good, boy."

I blinked at the man before waving a farewell, leaving the room with the card in my pocket and a bloody face. I opened the door and saw a few more people waiting in the room. They flinched at the sight of me and one grew pale when they saw the blood on me. I didn't spare them more than a glance as I walked out of the room, heading to get my license done up.

I got a few looks from the people around the lobby, but I figured that seeing bloody figures was often enough if that was the test new guys had to take. I wipe some blood out of my eyes as I made my way over to the desk. The man looked up and lingered on the wound on my head. The guy blinked before he swore, "Dammit Chris!" The secretary ignored me as he grabbed his phone before pounding in some numbers. "Chris is at it again... Uh-huh... Kid's in front of me with a bloody face... uh-huh, hold on. You filing charges against us?"

I stared at the man with a furrowed brow, "Why? It's my fault that I got hurt during the test. Um... I was told to give this to you." I handed the man the card, getting only a bit of blood on it from my hand.

The man looked at the card and back up to me with confusion. "Hold on please." The man turned back to his phone, "He's not pressing charges, he actually passed. Yeah, I know... I'll get right on it." The man hung up the phone and took my card. He placed it in a machine to his right and gave his keyboard a few strokes. "Look there," he pointed at a camera which I looked at just in time for it to snap my picture. The machine flashed and he pulled out a card with my information on it. My bloody face was staring blankly out from the card. The wound on my forehead looked like a bad hit too.

I took the card from the man and commented to myself, "Not the worst picture I've had." I looked back up at the man and gave him a smile, "Thank you. So, where do I go to get my jobs?"

The secretary pointed over to the side where I saw a series of terminals. "Go over there, put your card in the machine and it will give you a list of jobs you can accept."

I thanked the man once more before I left. I had to get to Junior's soon or I'd be late on my first day. I pocketed the card and bolted out of the building. Juniors was about thirty miles away, so I had to move it if I wanted to get there on time.

The quest completion screen flashed across my eyes, telling me that I had leveled up finally to thirteen. I gave a whoop as I flew across the roof tops of tenant buildings towards my goal.

I took to running under the highways to speed up my travels as there was only small roads that I had to jump over instead of having to go around or under big roads. That saved me about twenty minutes in total. I was able to come to a stop right outside the club fifteen minutes early, so fifteen before six. It would have been sooner, but I had to take to the streets for a bit due to construction on some of the rooftops.

I wiped my forehead of sweat and blood as I walked into the club, the bouncer gave me a look, but didn't stop me. I walked into the club and quickly made a beeline to Junior in the back. The man heard my footsteps and looked up at me. "Ah, Arc. There you are." The man gave the blood on me a glance, but didn't comment on it. "So, you will be needed to watch the inside, making sure to break up any fighting and what-not. Now, follow Bill here to get you in a suit." Junior pointed at a nondescript gang member who nodded at me.

I gave Junior a nod and followed the gang member to a back room that was lined with all different sizes of suits. The man asked me, "you know your suit size?" I shook my head and he nodded. The man looked me up and down and pulled a shirt off the rack along with two jackets. The gangster tossed them at me and I caught it. "Try those on and tell me if they are too loose or tight."

I pulled off my hoodie and put the shirt on, finding it to be fine and the second jacket fit nicely around my shoulders. "These are good." The man nodded and tossed me a pair of pants and shoes once I gave him my sizes. The man left and I quickly changed into the suit, finding it comfortable. I walked out of the room with my clothing in my inventory and glanced at the man. He looked me up and down before nodding.

From his inside pocket, the man pulled out a set of red sunglasses and passed them to me. "Welcome to our club. Don't do anything to embarrass us and you'll be fine." I gave the man a nod as I slid the glasses over my eyes. They flickered a bit and lightened. "Glasses are light sensitive if you're wondering. Helps when you have to watch a strobe lit dance floor for hour on end." I 'ahhed' at this and noticed a window open to my side.

"**Glasses detected! Would you like a HUD?**" I accepted that out of curiosity and two bars appeared in the upper left corner of my vision. To my right, I saw some text with the word quest over it. The text told me I had no quests at the moment. I knew that already and I would be probably getting one for doing this job. There was a clock in the corner with an email icon next to that when I focused on, there was a small pop up that told me I had no messages. The last thing that was on my glasses was a counter below my quests that had, "7/14" next to a decal of a pistol. An ammo counter as I had one free clip in my pocket.

I walked out back to the dance floor where Junior nodded at me and pointed to a side of the room, by the dining area. "Guard that area for now. It will change up every now and again to keep things from being too boring. You know what to do. If something comes up that would need your... expertise, I'll contact you through your scroll." I gave the man a nod as I went to stand by the place I was told to.

**Quest:  
****Guard duty – Junior's edition! Guard your designated area from fights or any disorderly conduct.  
****Reward: 30 experience, suit for Axe Gang**

I accepted it and the information blinked to life to the right of my glasses. I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms as I began to do the same thing I did while in the Luka guards, observe everyone enough for an analyze, but I also threw in some insight to spice things up. I found that, like before, many people were there for cheap thrills and to party. Something the insight did however that made my job seem so much easier was that when it reached level four, it was able to point out the people's mood.

Things like if they are happy, upset, drunk, and the most helpful of all, angry. If they are obvious about it, the skill could pick up if the person was looking for a fight. If I saw an angry person or any variant of them, I kept track of them, making sure I didn't lose sight of the person as they stalked the bar area, mostly there to get piss drunk.

The night wore on and, to my luck, none of the people decided to start a fight. The angry people would get fed up of their surroundings and stumble out of the club before anything went down. Once they were outside, it was the bouncer's problem. When two came around, I helped the guards usher people out of the room for closing, having to carry a few people to the curb that were passed out drunk. The moment the bar was empty of patrons, I got a mission complete.

Junior called out to me, "Arc, come over here!" I did so and found the man sipping on a drink at the bar. "Good job tonight. I saw you eying those trouble making patrons. I knew I didn't make a mistake. Keep the suit and be ready for another full night tomorrow." I nodded at the man and left the club. I went to a nearby alley and quickly changed into my casual clothing before walking around. I had to find somewhere to sleep for the night.

I wandered around a bit until I found myself on the city's edge. I saw it was about four in the morning judging by how low the moon was, so I shrugged and walked into the forest. I found the area that had an absent grimm population and jumped up into the trees. Due to my increase in strength, I was able to easily fall asleep in the branches with the assurance that I could kill any of the weaklings around the city with slight ease. I still was a terrible fighter, but I was getting better slowly.

* * *

**Remember that Jaune is young still, thirteen. He makes mistakes, like antagonizing a hunter of grand standing that he knew had a dislike for him**

**Edit! I have gotten a comment about Jaune's emotions not being like in the gamer story. Here is what I go off of.**

**I take the gamer perspective from the eyes of the controller. I think what it was meant to be is that in the story, that they are controlled by someone outside so they can use cold logic. However. Have you ever been PISSED at a character in a game on the behave of your protagonist, hateful of someone in a game to the point you just want to put a bullet in their head and move on? That is what I am thinking here. The gamer that is Jaune, feels negative emotions still, but in a more detached sort of way, enough that it is his own emotion, but he can control it a bit better. Jaune is a human and we are ruled by our emotions for the most part, the gamer just has a much better control.**


	5. Chapter 5

**So, sorry about forgetting to upload. here's the next chapter. I would like to thank you all for the great feedback too! So... Thank you!**

* * *

Chapter 5

The next morning, I undressed from my hoodie and went to find a river to wash up in. A Luka guard must know how to do their cleaning rituals within a pond at a moments notice. This was explained to me for when the guards had to go out on a hunt for dangerous creatures. I easily found a nice clean pond that I washed the blood off my hoodie and pants along with all the grime on my body with the help of the soaps I took from my house.

Once I was clean, I slid my clothes back on and went off to the hunter's hall for a quick job that I can do before work today. It didn't take long to arrive at the hall after running and I walked into the place with my hands in my pockets. I made a quick beeline to the terminal I was pointed at yesterday and slid my card into the slot.

A list of jobs flashed in front of me and I looked them over. There was a few for protection for upstanding businesses, some simple extermination for towns in the county side that had a little issue with grimms destroying their stuff, and one was to assist the police force in patrols for the upcoming festival. I grabbed one of the exterminations for a village about forty miles outside the city to the east along with the security for the festival.

**Quest:  
****Kill the troublesome beowolf pack in Feodul  
****Report to Feodul's mayor in next week  
****Reward: 2000 experience, 300 lien**

******Quest:  
****Assist police in patrolling Vytal festival on September fourth  
****Report to police station on November third  
****Reward: 1000 experience, 200 lien**

I smirked at the quests and went off to find Feodul as I had seven hours before my job started. I might just take a nap after I figured out where the town is, so I could go right after my job ended. Travel by night and hunt down the grimm in the morning. Be back to the city by lunch. The other job was not until three month from now, so I was good for the time being. Though, I did have that issue with not being able to sleep past six hours.

I went over to the secretary and asked, "Do you know where I can find out directions to Feodul?"

The man looked up and back at his computer. He clicked on a few times on the mouse and rapidly typed something into his computer. "Ah yes. Go to the east outpost, it is directly down the road in... forty-three miles."

I gave the man my thanks as I headed towards the northern forest to kill time. I had seven hours until my job started and my next day off was in four days. That would be when I really start moving with my hunting gig.

It took a bit of running, but I arrived in two hours where I wanted to be. I took off my shirt and started to work on my hand to hand combat, determined to increase the level by one more by the time the third hour was up, fuck the consequences.

My hands and feet were blurs as I pounded into the wood rapidly. The speed and power I used during the training increased my strength, vitality, and dexterity by two each. The broken fingers and tore skin accounted for the vitality, the power for the strength, and the rate I kept up at was for the dexterity.

I panted and used a towel to wipe myself off before putting a large shirt on. Once the shirt was in place, I left the woods and started my hike to Junior's club. 'I can't wait until I'm old enough to own a car or bike. This is taking forever,' I whined in my head as I flipped through the air to position myself for a desired landing.

The club was in my sight as I was running low on energy, my hands still bothering me from training. As I made the last leap for the front door, I opened up my status window. I rolled out of the fall in front of the bouncer and he gave me a nod as I entered the building. I checked out my stats as I headed over to the bathroom to change. The points were still the same, save that I needed to use the five I had stored up at some point. I really needed to do something about my intelligence and wisdom.

The effects however intrigued me. I still had the slowed effect, but I had a few more negative modifiers now. "**Broken fingers x 4 – Use of hands down by 10% per finger. Recover next rest or through first-aid.**" the next one was, "**Cracked Shin x 2 – Speed slowed by 5% per shin. Recover next rest or through first-aid.**"

I did say damn the consequences, so this was fitting for how I felt. I looked down at my bloody hand and saw the fingers slightly askew, so I grabbed the two on my right hand and snapped them into place. I gave a grunt of pain before I did the same thing to my other hand. I let out a sigh of relief once that was over as I entered the bathroom.

I opened my inventory and drew out my suit, putting it on quickly, so I could get to my position for the job. Once I had everything on, including my HUD, I walked out of the bathroom and took up my spot. I took the same position and began scanning the early clientele for miscreants.

I gained the same quest as before. Like last night, this one didn't have anything happen, so when two came around, I was out the door and heading towards the east outpost in a shirt and jeans. I didn't run this time, simply walking to enjoy the crisp air of the night. Once at the gate, I left under the confusion of the guards, but when they tried to stop me, I darted out and into the woods nearby.

The guards tried to give chase, but with my speed what it was now, it was a simple thing to run through the forest, even on slightly broken legs. Not that I could feel the pain or anything, my body was always sore from working out, a few fractured bones weren't going to stop me.

I continued my charge along the forest at high speeds and once I was sure the guards had left me to my fate, I hopped back onto the road and continued to run along it. In three hours, I arrived in a large town that had walls around it. I slowed to a stop at the gate and since it was pre-dawn, I dropped next to the gate and rested my painfully sore legs. 'Maybe running for all that time on broken legs was a bad thing,' I observed absently as I rubbed the pained limbs.

From my position on the wall, I watched the sunrise and I jumped when the gate next to me opened with the sound of grinding metal. I blinked at the opening structure and saw some guards walk out and take positions on the side within the frame of the metal door. The one opposite of me looked around and froze when he spotted me. "Who the hell are you?" the man asked.

The other guard leaned out of the door and looked down at me too, his eyes hidden by his helmet. "Hey... Um, I'm the Tryo-Hunter that accepted to take on your little grimm problem. Just resting from my hike here." I pushed myself to my feet and stretched my muscles as I walked over to stand in front of them. I was slightly tired from my exercising and long day, but I was use to the fatigue, so I got over it. "Which way is your town hall? I need to report in to find out what to do."

The guards stared at me for a second before the one on my right shook his head. "It's... the big building in the middle of town, you can't miss it." I nodded my thanks as I entered and walked over to the building they told me about. The man was right, it was not easy to miss as it was the only three story building in this whole town, along with all the roads branching out from it.

I opened the door of the town hall to see a secretary reading a book at her desk. The woman looked to be mid-forties with greying hair. My light footsteps alerted her to my presences and she looked up at me. "What can I do for you child?"

I came to a stop at her desk, "Yeah, I'm the Tryo-Hunter for the beowolf pack that has been bugging you guys. Is the mayor in?" The woman nodded and pointed over to the far door with the word "Mayor" stenciled on the door. "Thank you."

I walked over to the door and knocked on it. "Come in." I did so and found the mayor to be an aging man with white hair that looked to be falling out. "How can I help you lad?"

"I'm here for the beowolf problem," I once more explained, getting slightly annoyed with having to repeat myself so many times. "I was informed to report to you for more information."

"Ah yes. I didn't think someone would be by so soon. The beowolves have been attacking our bordering farmers and guards. There has been no casualties, but I need to nip this in the bud before there are some. The beowolves have been tracked to the east, in a small cave where they spend their days sleeping. The reports I have from the guards speak of over a dozen, which was why I didn't want my guards going in to fight. I have the location somewhere around here..." The man rummaged in his desk for a moment before taking out a slip of paper with some sloppy writing on it. 'Ahah! Here you are my boy."

I nodded along with this information and took the offered slip of paper. "Alright. I'll take care of it by lunch." I didn't bother waiting to be dismissed and walked out of the room and jogged back out of the town. I was hungry and the sooner I did this, the soon I could get back to Vale and grab some food.

I glanced at the piece of paper and pulled on my red shades along with my hood to cover my head from the sun. The HUD flickered to life and told me I had no ammo on my person for my pistol. 'Right, I still need to reload some rounds for that thing.' I tossed the pistol into my inventory and took out my standard assault rifle.

The block-like gun had a modern feel to it, but the square top was a tad bit weird to me after wielding snipers and pistols that had a rounded barrel. I loaded the weapon as I set out to the east, glancing at the coordinates that imprinted themselves under my quest's information. It had replaced the report in with the area.

**Quest:  
****Kill the troublesome beowolf pack in Feodul  
****Kill all grimm in cave (16/16) , 230E of Feodul, 3 miles  
****Reward: 2000 experience, 300 lien**

The trip through the woods was slow going as I was hunting. I kept low and in stealth as I stalked to my target. I didn't want to wake any of the creatures before I could get the drop on them. It was half an hour later that I came upon the cave in question. It took five minutes of searching to find it, because when I think cave, I think of a large opening in the side of a mountain or hill, not small opening that goes down into the ground and they had the coordinates wrong, the cave was seven miles out.

With a mental groan, I slid down the slight opening to find the room was quite well lit by the opening. The white bone structures along the beowolve's bodies highlighted them in the darkness. There are way more than sixteen of them. I scrambled up the slope of the cave after I reached the thirties. 'This is a major pack! Holy shit!' My panicked scrambling apparently awakened them and as I reached the top of the hole, I had to dive to the side, a large beowolf lunging at me.

My quest HUD flashed red before a new text was in the spot of my quest.

**Quest:  
****Kill the troublesome beowolf pack in Feodul  
****Kill all grimm in cave (16/16) , 230E of Feodul, 3 miles  
****Reward: 2000 experience, 300 lien  
****Bonus objective:  
****Destroy large encampment of grimm hidden nearby Feodul  
****Kill grimm (42/42) Kill alpha grimm (2/2)  
****Reward: 7000 experience, 1000 lien**

"I'm in the wrong spot! SHIT!" I screamed as I distanced myself from the cave opening, firing my weapon at anything that moved. My glassed gained a crosshair that followed my rifle which was helpful for my precision as my rounds did jack all shit to the grimms' hides.

I analyzed the grimms in front of me and found something that made me almost piss myself.

**Minor Beowolf  
****level 20  
****400/400**

**Minor Elder Beowolf  
****level 22  
****600/600**

**Minor Alpha Beowolf  
****level 25  
****700/700**

These bastards are minors! The beowolves I killed back in Vale weren't even named! These things are still considered weaklings too, not even in the realm of difficult for any hunter, but I knew this was going to be a dangerous fight. I unloaded my rifle and quickly reloaded, but my danger sense went off and I spun around to deliver a rifle butt to one of the pouncing wolf's face. My gun was mostly useless, but I used it to soften up everything around me. I had to keep moving or I would be destroyed by the wolves, so I only was able to kill on in a hundred rounds due to the lack of focus. I had only killed that one because I gained a series of "Critical" hits on its head in a bout of luck.

When my gun clicked empty for the eleventh time, I said, "Fuck it!" and tore my blade out, meeting an Alpha head on. My blade bit deep into its side, but it wasn't nearly enough to do more than annoy the creature.

I ducked and whirled around the field, sending powerful strikes at the simple wolves, taking down a few here and there thanks to blows to their necks or limb loss. They may not have been dead, but they couldn't walked anymore. While my attacked didn't do much, I was able to put out many strikes in rapid succession that kept most of the wolves at bay and killed a few more.

The young ones were impatient to my advantage, they didn't want to do what the Elders and Alphas were doing, they wanted their kill now. Their blind rage worked in my favor as alone or in pairs, the level twenties were easy to dispatch thanks to my skill with the blade.

By the end of five minutes, the bodies of dying or dead young grimm were littering the field with the two alphas and seven Elders remaining. I acted cocky as I spun my blade in my hand, stalking around them over the bodies of their dead until I was free from the circle of death. It wouldn't do to trip all of a sudden.

I blinked once and the elders charged as the Alphas hung back to let the underlings soften me up more. I had already taken quite a few hits from the simple ones, taking my health down to half, but they were many, and now they were few. I met their charge with an overhead strike that buried the blade through the head of the leader in a large critical hit.

I had to roll to the side as another tried to tackle me, but they expected this, hoped for it even. I was met from my roll with the snarling face of another elder that bowled me over onto my back. I didn't waste time and kicked the creature off me, but not before it got a good gash in my cheekbone with its teeth. The deep cut was along my cheekbone to my nose just above my nostrils.

I boosted myself up in time to slice the head off a pouncing grimm before it could do the same to me with its sharp claws. As the body soared to the side, I got down low and flipped another lunging wolf over my shoulder, delivering a stab that impaled its skull. The game may deal in hit points, but a sword through the head will kill anything, just had to have the power to get it there.

I was panting, tired from everything, but I had to keep going as these elders were not deterred even with the mounds of corpses around me, they were even madder now that I killed their pack members, taking bigger risks as they went low, high and everything in between to hit me. I finished off the fifth elder when the Alpha decided to get in on the action.

I barely dove out of the way as one of the Alphas, a large grimm the size of a war horse, slammed into the ground where I once was. I barely recovered enough to impale an attacking elder on my blade that tried to take advantage of my opening.

The more I fought, the more I was thankful of my training that I did since I was back. Without the speed boost I had from my dexterity and free-running, I would have been done for. With three more grimms to face down, I took a low stance, keeping an eye of the prowling demons. I let the elder get behind me as I focused on the Alphas, keeping my danger sense open.

This ruse worked and by the time the thing had jumped at my back, I was turning and had my sword in its stomach. I had enough time to kick it off my filthy blade and turn to block one of the claws that the Alpha sent my way

I barely thrusted my stomach back to dodge the slash that the creature sent out once its claw was stopped. I kept the arm against my blade and drove my shoulder forward into the grimm's chest. The blow knocked the creature onto its back due to being on its hind legs, but before I could finish it off, an elder tackled me away. In my fury, I punched the grimm off me before slamming my sword into its neck, deep into its body.

I didn't have time to tear the blade out to avoid the next strike, so I rolled over the corpse and brought it up to take the hit for me. The Alpha's claws tore the elder grimm apart in a mess of gore, but it did the job of free in my longsword from the dead carcass. The grimm however was not prepared for the thrust through I gave through the gore and the blade slid into its chest with only the slightest of resistance, piercing one of its lungs.

The thing gave a wheeze as it backhanded me across the field into the pile of corpses. As the grimm clutched its chest, the partner came in behind and started to swing a flurry of blows at me that I was hard pressed to avoid.

The claws found home in my torso a few times, giving me the gift of cuts that were not too deep, but did bleed quite a bit. My shirt was ruined by the time the attacks stopped and my blade was dull from blocking. As the thing drew back for a large swipe, fueled by animistic rage, I gave a wide slash that parted its throat like a ship through the sea.

The cut wasn't clean due to how dull and chipped the blade was, but that just made the grimm bleed faster. It fell backwards and landed with a thud as the deep crimson blood flooded out of its torn throat. I prepared myself for another attack, but when I looked at the other Alpha, I found it crawling at me, bloody foam on its lips as it snarled at me.

The demon expired long before it got close to me, drowned in its own blood. The moment the eyes lost its life, I relaxed to the ground. Or I would have if I hadn't lied on something. I looked down and saw a bundle of money next to the dead Alpha. I looked around and saw that their were a few more things littered around, like money, books, and some jewelry. I hesitantly picked it up and put the money in my inventory's wallet. It accepted it and went up to 5128 lien. That was five thousand lien?! With greed in mind, I went around the field, gathering up any rewards that I could find. The books made their way into my inventory without a glance, so did the jewelry. In total, I gained 10,400 lien, three books, and a few rings along with a necklace.

I finished packing up when I realized that I needed evidence that I did this, so I grabbed my scroll from my inventory, propped it up on a pile of rocks and set a timer. One thing I learned about hunting from my mom was that for something as big as this, photo proof that showed the coordinates along with the hunter was what was needed. I set the camera to go off in two minutes, so I pulled out a sheet of paper from my duffle bag in my inventory along with a pen and wrote in big letters, "Jaune Arc, 230E seven miles outside of Feodul." Along with today's date that I had to check my scroll for. I pocketed the pen and held the paper up lazily, relaxing on the dead Alphas body, letting my sore, bloody body stay still for a bit.

The camera flashed and I tossed the paper to the side to retrieve the photo evidence. I hobbled over to the phone and glanced at the picture. It got me, the sign, and the dead grimms littering the background. I looked like a mess, drenched head to toe in blood, mine and grimm which only looked slightly darker than human blood. My glasses were askew and my shirt was barely hanging onto my body. Said body had many slight gashes across it from the battle and my face looked so tired.

I nodded and inventoried the scroll before slumping against the tree. I needed to regain some stamina before I went back to work.

I allowed my eyes to close and when I blinked them open, I saw that it was midday. "**100% Hp and Mp recovered!**" I scrambled to my feet, my wounds already turned to scars from the feeling on my face and torso. I pulled out my scroll and found the time to be one in the afternoon. Damn, there is no way I'll be on time with my job. I still had to clear out the place I was assigned to. Groaning, I found Junior in my contacts and called him.

After it rang a few times, I heard the phone get picked up. "What's up Arc?" I heard Junior answer.

I rubbed my eyes as I spoke, "I'll be late today. Sorry, I just got mobbed by forty plus beowolves and passed out for the past... six hours I think. I've got a picture so I'm not bullshitting you. I still have another den to flush out, but I should be able to get there by eleven."

"It's cool. Send me the picture and everything will be fine."

"Thanks man. I'll see you when I get back," I sighed in relief. Junior hung up and I shot the picture his way. I pocketed the scroll and started back to the town. I needed to start over looking for the grimm den I was suppose to clear out. I actually stumbled by it by accident on my way back. It was hidden in the shadows of a tree, but it was a true cave like they had said.

I looked in as I pulled out my rifle, having retrieved it from the field along with the clips that I cared enough to find. I exhaled and fired a shot into the dark. I heard a howl of pain and beowolves streamed out of the cave. Some had bleeding wounds while others had battle scars across their bodies. I analyzed them as I unloaded my clips on their bodies.

**Battle-Scarred Beowolves  
****Level 13  
****110/160**

This time there was no Alpha waiting for me, so by the time I had finished off my second clip, most of the Beowolves were dead or wounded. They were all already hurt from their attacks on the town judging by the bullet scars and name, so it was a simple matter of sending bursts into their weakened forms or cutting them apart with a blade to finish the job. Compared to the minors, that was laughably easy.

I rubbed my face, smearing the blood I still had on it from myself and the dead minors, as I inventoried my rifle. I took my scroll out and snapped a picture of the carnage before I put that back in too. While the window was open, I found my stats as I walked back to the town. I had gained five levels from the deadly fight alone and was halfway to the next level, just three thousand experience. I had gained four points in STR, six in DEX, somehow four in WIS, and three in LUK. The luck must have come from the fact I didn't die a horrid death in that fight.

**Name: Jaune Arc  
****Level: 18  
****Next level: 45%  
****Title: The Disgrace  
****HP: 1880  
****MP : 940  
****STR: 40  
****VIT: 80  
****DEX: 63  
****INT: 33  
****WIS: 23  
****LUK: 23  
****Points: 30  
****Money: 10528**

I was rather proud of my stats. I was strong than the average level eighteen, but I hoped that I could keep up with a level twenty person. The grimms were predictable, they were just animals after all, but Yang could still probably kick my ass in a fight even with these boosts in my skills. On the note of skills, I had gotten some levels in my blade mastery, reaching level... thirty-two. "Holy shit, six whole levels for one fight?!" I couldn't help but cry out to myself as I walked. That would have taken me months to do on a tree!

I knew I got more experience for fighting grimm with skills, but I had no idea it was that much of a boost! It was almost worth the most certainly permanent scar across my face. It was rather thin, given what it was from. It ran just slightly under my cheekbone and faded out into a point right as it crossed my nose. The other permanent ones would be on my back from where a wolf got a lucky shot in the chaos. It wasn't too deep, so it would be a faded wound that would be covered by my tattoo.

I arrived in town soon after I shut my window. I got annoyed by my tattered shirt and just ripped the bloody thing off my body, tossing it to the side as it was pointless to keep it. That only left me with one more shirt, my suit, and my hoodie.

I didn't put either one on though as I still had blood all over my body and without a washing machine, getting blood out was a pain as I learned when I washed my clothes in the lake. I was surprised that I didn't get a skill in washing my clothes when I did it by hand, but I guess not everything was a skill.

I arrived at the town and the guards stared at me, no doubt due to the blood on me. I quickly made my way over to the mayor's office and I didn't bother asking if the mayor was in. I was impatient and sore from the fighting. I just wanted a hot meal and to get back to the city before I got killed.

I pushed the door open and saw the mayor was in a meeting with what looked to be a pair of guards. "Excuse me. I'm meeting someone." I nodded as I pulled out my scroll.

"You are quite lucky you know. There was a pack of forty grimm led by two Alphas seven miles from your town. I was not informed of this." I casually said, but I had a little growl in my voice because I almost died because of that oversight.

The man's face went pale and he turned to the guards, "Dismissed, please excuse us as we have important business to attend to." The guards saluted and I stepped out of the way as I opened my gallery for the two pictures. I pushed the door shut with my toe before approaching the mayor's desk.

"I had apparently missed the location of the cave, it was hidden and I had no idea where I was looking. First job you see." I chuckled mirthlessly at this part as I opened the picture of the grimm battle. "hell of a first job too." I slid the scroll onto the desk and the man picked it up. "There were forty-four in total. Seven elders, two Alphas and the rest simple minor beowolves. They had the hides to take bullets point-blank range, so they were a cut above normal beowolves that I've fought."

The man grew paler as he stared at the picture. After a pause, the man shakily spoke, "T-thank you for your h-help sir. Our guards are not p-prepared for an assault that those monsters could have led. You will be rewarded extra for your assistance in this matter and I'll send a recommendation to have the job grade increased. I had no idea they were numbered this high. I'm amazed no one died if they were so powerful."

I pointed out a fact that he seemed to have gotten wrong due to how I explained it, "This wasn't what was fighting you." The man's head shot up and I grabbed the scroll. I flipped to the next picture of the cave. "This was what you were fighting. These were simple beasts that had no leader, nor control of themselves like the grimms I found. They were simple to gun down."

The man took the scroll and stared at it before handing the device back to me. "It would seem you did this town a great favor. Thank you sir, you have saved many people today." The man reached into his desk and pulled out a checkbook. "This is your first job correct?" I nodded, "Alright, take this to you bank or the hunter's office that you go to, to exchange it for money."

I took the offered check and folded it before sliding the paper in one of my clean pockets. "Thank you and I better go. I'm already going to be late for my job, don't want to be more." I waved a farewell at the man and walked out of the room. I left the town in a hurry and I was soon sprinting down the road. My sleep was refreshing and gave me the energy to make a good pace down the road. I estimated that I'd be back in Vale in two and a half hours. It took a half hours to sort out the job, so if I stopped at a pond to wash away the blood, I should be able to reach Junior's by seven, much less than what time I said I would be back at.

As I was running down the road, my vision came alive with windows telling me that I had completed my quest and gained two more levels. I barely got to level twenty, but I did and had ten more points to add to the thirty I had in reserve. I shrugged and closed my screen as it didn't really matter. What mattered was that I needed to train harder than ever if the weaklings of the grimm world nearly killed me.


	6. Chapter 6

**Jester here, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!**

* * *

Chapter 6

My estimate travel time was slightly off. It took more than an hour to clean the blood from my pants, so it took four and a half hours to reach Vale. I stopped by the hunter's hall and the person on duty helped me through how to cash a hunter's check. I spent a half hour setting up a bank account with the twenty-four hour bank across the street. I luckily had my papers in my bag, so I had all the needed information and had the check cashed, the money safely in my bank account.

Another half an hour to get to Junior's with a spot to grab something to settle my roaring stomach, so it came to nine at night when I came through the doors in my suit and glasses. The glasses were slightly scratched and smudged, but I cleaned most of the blood of the red lenses.

I found Junior flirting with some young girls by the bar. They looked to be around seventeen and not wanting to be there at the moment. I strolled over, feeling better than I usually do being here, must be finally over that bullet to my lung. I tapped Junior on the shoulder and the man spun around to see me. "Arc! You're alive! Why are you here?"

I tilted my head to the side in confusion. "To... Work?" I asked him, what else would I be here for?

The man spun completely in his chair, "No, I saw the picture man. How are you even moving after all that damage?! I mean, thirty beowolves and two Alphas, dude, there is no way you're okay after that!"

I shrugged and put my hands in my pockets, embarrassed that he was making such a big deal over the fight. It was just a job that turned a little harder. Killing them wasn't that special, I mean, he could have done it if he was in my place. "Um... I heal really fast when I sleep. I was just letting you know I'm here. I'll be... over by the dining area if you need me." I shuffled away before he could bring up more of the fight.

I leaned back in my usual spot and watched the room through my gamer's eyes. I kept my eye on the normal suspicious people and mostly just blankly watched the floor of dancing bodies for the next six hours like I usually did. Guarding sucks, but I didn't really have to do much to be good at it.

When the bar closed, I finally let myself sink into one of the nearby chairs and let my weight off my sore legs. Running forties miles than standing guard for six straight hours does a number on the body. Before I knew it I was asleep in the chair.

What must have been minutes later, I felt a slap on my leg and jolted awake to see an employee looking down at me. "C'mon Arc. Time to leave." I gave him a blink behind my glasses before getting to my feet. I went outside and into the alley next to the club. I quickly dressed in my casual wear before taking off to find somewhere to sleep.

The night was warm, so I found sleeping on the roof of a building was fine and the next morning, I was back in the forest, training as I usually did with my hands. I barely reached a new level by the time work began. Trees weren't cutting it seeing what I could gain by fighting grimm.

My week continued with the pace. I didn't do any jobs because I needed to ready if they took another turn like that for me. I nearly died and I'm scarred for life because of the mishap. My job was fine, no one started any fights thankfully which allowed me to rest during my shift and train in my off time.

The weekend came and since I had nothing better to do, I trained my hand to hand like usual, ran everywhere, and worked on my swordsmanship some more. I didn't get anything done with my blade, but by five in the afternoon, I had restocked on my ammunition using my reloading bench, sharpened my blade back to a fine edge, and had a nice meal in the forest off things I've scavenged.

I made my way to Junior's club as I didn't have anything else to do. I wore my clean shirt, a simple black tee that was getting too tight for my new body even though it was two sizes too big for me when I got it last year. I still had to fix the hole in my hoodie, so I would be stopping at a store to pick up some yarn. Maybe I could hawk some of my jewelry while I'm free?

I furrowed my brow as I came to a stop on a rooftop about the market district. I opened my inventory and pulled out the three books I had. The moment I read the covers, I got a message from the one in my hand, "**The art of warfare by Sun Tzu, do you wish to learn skill book?**" I glared at the yes and the book burst into flames within my hand and was replaced by a window. "**New category unlocked! Tactics. Skills learned! Team Tactics (Passive):** Level 1 – Ability to plan and fight a battle with a team. +2% better plans made within a team. **War** **Tactics (passive):** Level 1 – Ability to plan and shape a battle as a leader. +2% better plans made for large scale battles. **Guerrilla Warfare Tactics (Passive): **Level 1 – Some battles aren't won by fighting. +2% better planning for taking on fighting forces larger than own."

I stared at the window before going over the text again. The book was on tactics, that much was obvious, and I now knew that book by heart for some reason. I didn't know how to train these other than go to the library and read up on war and the basics of how to fight it. I could do that while I train my physical skills later. I gained another WIS point for that.

The next book in my hand was called the "B**asic First-Aid**" I learned it the same way. I gained the skill, "**First-Aid (Passive):** Level 1 – Fix up small wounds or bones. +10% speed at healing basic injuries, +10% more health gain through healing." That was a good one to know. I could fix up my broken bones faster than waiting to sleep it off. Useful for combat.

The last book I had was called, "**Driving a vehicle for idiots!**" I didn't even bother using my eyes, I slammed my finger into that transparent yes button in a blur. My mind was flooded with basic information about driving a basic class C vehicle. Anything from a pickup to a van, I knew how to drive along with the street laws that I needed to know.

**New Category unlocked! Driving! Class C Driving (Passive):** Level 1 – Can drive any noncommercial vehicle weighing 26,000 pounds or less except motorcycles.. +1% control over vehicle.

I just turned fourteen and I already knew how to drive a car! Too bad I wouldn't be able to do anything with that information until I was sixteen something. I rubbed the back of my head and continued running to Junior's in a more slow fashion, thinking over the whole, learn everything a book held thing. It seemed to only work on skill books or the other books I checked out of the library on things like history would have given me the option to learn the book.

I couldn't keep the grin from my face as I planned an outing to the library before I got to the club. I diverted my course to the library and entered it once the idea had taken root in my mind. I got a few looks for my scruffy look as I hadn't combed my hair in the past month and really hadn't even gotten a haircut in the past five.

I found the war section and grabbed up a few books on tactics along with some on how the White fang fought their wars. As I walked through the library, I couldn't help but comment to myself, "I really need to sort out this school thing." I picked out a few books that didn't give me a prompt, but made note of the ones that did so I could go out and buy them later. I didn't want to destroy books in the library.

I carried the pile of books, about a dozen strong over to the counter and placed them on the desk. The librarian looked at the books, pushed up her glasses, and looked at me. "Will this be all?" The woman asked sarcastically, but I gave her a dead look over my glasses which I had taken to wearing everywhere due to the helpful HUD, and how I figured out how to add a time function in the corner above the quests.

The woman started ringing them up when I didn't respond and then asked for my library card. I gave her mine and she swiped it before handing it back. "They are due back in a month." I nodded and picked up the pile, balancing it on one hand as I walked out. The moment I was outside, I took a turn into an alley and dropped them in my inventory where it categorized the books under a pile called "**Library books.**" It came with a drop down menu that I could use and pick the one I wanted while not having them get mix up in any other books I may have later.

I pulled out a book in the White Fang rebellion and started reading it as I walked through the city to Junior's club. I might as well know the history of the war before I went into tactics, it would give me a little insight on why they fought like they did. **Ding!** Fuck you game. "**For thinking about context of texts, +1 WIS!**"

I noticed another ding as I got through part of the book in the hour it took to get to the club. I had a gained a level in the War tactics just reading about the simple things like how a battle was won, not what kind of things they did that led to the victory. It had given me three levels by the time I was halfway through the book. I had to close the text though as I was closing in on the club. I walked in with the book under my arm and the bouncer greeted me, "Hey Arc."

"Hey Payne." I had finally gotten to know a few of my co-workers names in the week I had been there. I made a circle around the dance floor, the music resonating in my chest a I did so. I went to the bar and ordered a bottle of Blue Sun once more. I've only had two of the drinks before, but I liked the taste of them.

I paid the bartender and walked over to the dining area where I grabbed a chair in the corner for myself. I opened the book and beer then began to read, sipping on my drink. The drink lasted me for two hours before I finished the book I had. Unlike when I used them to exercises, it was easier to comprehend things when I sit down. As I closed the book, I found I got a point in my intelligence from studying.

I tipped the beer back and finished it off, gaining me another level in my alcohol tolerance. Since it took one drink for my first level, and two for my second, I figured that if I drank three more, I'd get to level four. Another ding. God, I felt this game was condescending me when I did make good decisions. I checked and it was one more to my INT.

I rubbed my eyes as I looked at my stats before shrugging and putting seven points into my DEX to even it out at seventy so I could move faster. Once that impulse happened, I closed my menu before I was tempted to boost my intelligence or wisdom when they were such a low le-... **Ding, Ding**... Do I honest not think enough to get these? Is that the thing? Two more in wisdom.

I grabbed my used book and opened my inventory under the table, I pushed the book into it and drew out a book on Mystral tactics in their war with the mounted nomads of Kanto that were too violent to leave be. I had also gotten three books on the nomads' tactics as well since I was interested in their guerrilla warfare.

Before I started reading, I went back to the bar and ordered two more beers to drink while I was over there. "Two more Blue Suns, Mike." The man behind the counter, an older man in the gang uniform with greying hair, but a well-muscled body, nodded and I handed him the money as he handed me my bottles. I settled back in my spot and began reading the introduction of the book.

The book had an overview of basic military tactics that they had over the mounted infantry. I gained a few skills in my team tactics as well as one in my guerrilla tactics thanks to an brief explanation on the basics of what the people had to counter in their fighting.

The text was dry as paper, so I finished off my second beer with fifteen pages left. I didn't mind the dryness as I found I enjoyed reading about the tactics and learning how to fight people. I saw how I could use it for grimm and the like if I ever made it to the higher levels of the hunter's ranks.

When two came around, I was still sober due to the fact I only drank five beers over the course of seven hours. I saw that drunk points slowly declined with one every three minutes. I never drank enough to stack them, so I was fine from the effects of the alcohol beyond the minus three to my INT and WIS. Maybe drinking beer might not help me learn, but it did increase my tolerance, so I was still multitasking while learning something.

**Ding.** Please stop. I sighed as I closed yet another WIS screen. I had gained a good four INT from reading my books, four in total, but one was extra long. This came with a good number of tactic points. I had the most in Guerrilla warfare due to reading all the books I had on the Nomads which boosted my team tactics to ten with the fifteen I had in the G.W. Tactics.

I made another part of my inventory with what I labeled as the read library books. I made my own little stack of them which was six strong now. I had no idea how I read them so fast, but it was just so easy to understand what they were saying and the words nearly flew off the page into my mind. I guessed that was what my INT score helped with, comprehension and retention of the information.

With the rate I was going at, I'll be finished with my books tomorrow if I came in the club at six once more. I of course would be spending the rest of my day working out to increase my skills in combat, or at least my stat scores.

I fell asleep in the forest like I usually did, next to the water in a tree. This was so I could bathe and clean my clothes by hand. It would seem I had not washed my clothes enough, since I got a skill in laundry on Thursday when I finished getting a stain from some grimm meat off my shirt. **Laundry (Passive): **Level 2 – Fight the stains with the might of your hands! +10% speed washing clothes. I think the game was trying to spice itself up with humor and it was a welcomed change to the usual way it informed me about the skills.

I woke up and did my morning routine in the pond, not even caring about the water's temperature anymore. Once I was clean and my clothes too, I dressed in my other pair of jeans for my work out. I really had to get more clothing than what I had. I only had two casual tops and one had a bullet hole in it!

Once I was refreshed, I took off running at top speed, the gamer body neglecting the need to stretch. Today, I was determined to increase my free-running at least three levels. If I had to sprint a hundred miles through the woods and back, so be it.

My impulsive goal set for the day, I was soon bursting through the woods like usual. By the time the sun was full in the sky, I had another four levels in my skill and I was exhausted, but I had to get back to Vale, so I did an about face and sprinted back. I made it to my pond around four by the look of the sun. On the way back, I got my twenty-seventh level in free-running, so I could much faster than my normal speed when I activated the skill. 102% faster than what I normally ran at and I had a boosted base running speed of 20% when I leveled up my dexterity affiliation to four. I had a plus sixty-two percent speed boost from my passive running, but I figured that went away when I activated my skill.

I took a quick bath and changed into my clean jeans along with my shirt once more. Rubbing the exhaustion out of my face, I walked into town to go clothes shopping. I really needed some work out equipment and warmer clothes for when winter comes.

I found a good second-hand store in the market place. When I entered, I saw a Faunus working the counter, but all I could tell was he was a canine type. I looked around the place and found the clothing racks. I pulled out a few large shirts that looked like they would fit me loosely, some jeans that were the same as mine, if a bit beaten up, but looser than these things, and lastly some shorts to work out in. My current clothing was getting too tight for my new body. These jeans were snug when before I could have a hand width of distance from my waist and them. I used to be a lanky bastard I came to realize.

I grabbed a warm looking coat that was made of a tough canvas like material with a fur-lined hood and neck. I also grabbed some shoes my size as my tennis shoes are wearing the hell out and I had to give my boots back to Luka when I left them.

I picked out two pairs, one normal black sneakers and some worn black military boots. Once I had my clothes picked out, I brought them to the front and the total came to one hundred and forty lien. I paid the price easily and grabbed the bags and boxes. Once I was outside and in an alleyway, I inventoried my clothes and saw that I was reaching my limit with storage. I had thirty pounds left out of the hundred and sixty pounds of junk. Though, fifteen pounds of that was books, so I should be fine once I finished off my remaining texts.

With my new wardrobe stashed away in my inventory, I made my way over to the club for another day of reading and drinking. I didn't have much else to do and while the music annoyed me, I didn't want to spend all my time free sitting around in a forest.

I entered the club, the music assaulting my ears as I grabbed a few drinks from the bar before settling down in the chair I sat in yesterday. I pulled out the books on the White Fang tactics and started my next reading session. This time, the book was interesting as it was written by a former White Fang member. The woman had lost faith in their cause after seeing some of the mindless violence her faction did and published the book to help people combat the attacks that the White fang's could send.

It detailed how they crippled the supply runs, how they would attack at night due to their members having night vision, and many more topics. I barely could stop reading the book until I turned the last page.

When I finally closed the book, I noticed I had drank all four of my beers in the five hours I was reading the book, more of an ambush and counter-ambush manual for the White Fang's opposition. I pocketed the book and pulled out the next book which was on Vale's military tactics through the ages. It was short as it was just an overview, but I had two more books on Vale's tactics along with two on the White Fang, but after that book, I think it wouldn't help too much.

The night wore on and two came around quickly. I had enough beers to get to level six over my time there, so I had the "**Buzzed**" status effect, but it just gave a slight sense of pleasure and that's it. The definition was, "**Mild euphoria, sociability, talkativeness, increased self-confidence; decreased inhibitions. Diminution of attention, judgment and control. Beginning of sensory-motor impairment. Loss of efficiency in finer performance tests.**"

I was only in the low end of it, just five points above the limit of sober, so I didn't really feel the effects of being buzzed too much. In fifteen minutes, that even went away and I got up to leave. My books were finished and my end goal for an enjoyable weekend was met with a roaring success. My tactics were great for the amount of work I put in it, which was only about fifteen hours worth. I felt they will grow much harder to level up as time went along however, when I needed to make my own plans instead of read about others.

**Team Tactics (Passive):** Level 19 – Ability to plan and fight a battle with a team. +38% better plans made within a team

**War Tactics (Passive):** Level 16 – Ability to plan and shape a battle as a leader. +32% better plans made for large scale battles

**Guerrilla Warfare Tactics (Passive):** Level 25 – Some battles aren't won by head on fighting. +50% better planning for taking on fighting forces larger than own

I was satisfied with my levels for now and I knew I had to change up my reading to that of academics if I was going to be joining high school anytime soon. Since I hadn't gotten any information if my mother cleared up the issue or not, I was going down to my old school tomorrow to see if I had the power to sort it out myself. I would have done it earlier, but I really did not believe I had that much say over my legal life with my age and the fact I was a runaway.

The next morning, earlier than I usually awoke, after I finished bathing and changing into some of the better conditioned clothes, I walked over to my old school to see if I could do anything about my education. The front office was open and I just walked in. "If you're late, go to the attendance office," the secretary told me when she looked up to see who entered the office.

"I'm actually not a student here anymore, but I need to clear up some issues I have." The woman looked at me when I said this.

After a pause, she asked, "What are these issues?"

"See... I was in my last year here when a... Family matter came up. I missed the last two months of school and well... My family was making me go into Signal, so nothing was scheduled to fix that little problem."

"And you didn't make it, so now you are having a problem getting into high school?" I nodded at her. I knew this was probably a common problem, even if my circumstances were not. The person sighed and reached into her desk before drawing out some paperwork. "Name?"

"Jaune Arc." The woman rapidly typed in my name on the computer and brought up my information.

"Hm... let's see. Jaune Arc. A low C student. Numerous absences for medical reasons. Comments include Lack of improvement, Needs to turn in work... Hm... Well. Since we pass most people if they had a high F, and even if you missed the testing, you would still have a high F, just get your parents to sign these papers and turn them back in to our office. We'll get this sorted out." I gave her a smile as I took the papers and left the building.

That smile dropped as quickly as it came due to having to go back to my mother's house and risk running into the bastard. There would have been an upside to this if it was the weekend or later in the day, but my sisters were in school at them moment. I took off at a sprint towards my house, determined to get the paperwork done today so that I may join the high school soon. I need at least a high school education to be eligible for Beacon.

I knocked on the door and after a tick, my mother thankfully opened it. She blinked down at me before letting me in. I followed her to the kitchen table where I pulled out the paperwork. "I need to get a high school education if I want to become a hunter, so I need you to sign this." I handed the papers over to her and she looked them over. "Just sign them." Mom exhaled as she pulled out a pen from a draw nearby and filled out all the places she had to.

"You know, the little ones miss you a lot. You never did tell me where you lived so we could visit," Mom said as she continued to write on the papers.

I shrugged and replied, "I've been sleeping in the woods and spending my days working as a guard for a club. I've already got my Tyro-hunter licenses, so I'm too busy to look for a place for permanent residence. Tell the girls I'll try to visit on the weekends when I don't have a bounty to do." Mom's shoulders slumped when she heard this but agreed to do so.

When she handed the papers to me, she told me, "You're always welcome to come home. I know I can't force you and you'd keep leaving if I did, but I really do want you here." I smiled and gave the woman a hug.

I held it for a bit before stepping back, "I know, but I really do want to make something of my life instead of committing suicide by antagonizing the fat man. I do promise that I'll try to stop by and I'll call once in a while."

Mom glared at me before giving a hard nod, "You better or I will hunt you down and tie you in a room with those girls." I gave a laugh at the threat as I walked towards the door. "I mean it!"

"I know," I called back as I exited the house. I would need to do my best to avoid this as the last time I was trapped with the girls, they did a horrible make-up job on my face and dyed my hair a bright blue that would not wash out. It took seven months for that color to fade.

I made my way back to the school and arrived just as the lunch bell rung. I went into the office and handed the paperwork to the person at the desk that helped me. "Alright. I'll get this filed and tomorrow, check in with your district's high school to get your placement." I gave her a nod and left to train some more.

I didn't get much done as I had only five hours of work, so I for once in my life, focused on my strength stat. Instead of running around, doing push ups, or anything else that basically increased my VIT with helping my STR raised at a snail's pace, I rolled over some large rocks and started to do exercises with them.

The first thing I did was some floor benches with one of the heaviest that I could lift. After I did ten reps, I barely pushed the thing above my head where it fell into the dirt. I gave a groan at my sore muscles before I started a set of leg exercises by placing the same rock on my back and squatting.

By the end of my two hours of work, I had gained a large headway into my STR stat. Five whole levels were in it. What I would have gotten if I put a level up into the stat. My body hurt like crazy, but I was able to get to the club in time for my shift. I knew what I was going to be doing every other day! I found I liked the feeling of my muscles getting stronger, like how I liked the feeling of my body growing more lean with my DEX. I could notice changes with my VIT, but it was how long I could last doing something, not if I could do something better.

I relaxed beside the bar for my shift as I was told to guard this area this time around when I got my time schedule from Junior. I blankly watched the dance floor through my glasses, but I really only paid attention to any erratic movements of people. I finally reached level ten of mu insight skill and it gave me a much clearer motive for the people. While it gave me clear information on their mood, it didn't really give me much on the likelihood of what they would be doing with that mood. With level ten, I found out WAY too much about the people around me.

Such as for one teen on the dance floor, I sent an insight on her and got this tasteful message, "**Looking for casual sex. Not desperate but any guy or girl would do.**" I really did not need to know that, but when I tried it out on an angry gentleman, it told me, "**Looking to let off some frustration. Method would be relaxing around a bar and one night stand.**" While before when I would do this, it would just tell me the first sentence, but with the next set of information, it made my job so much more easier because I didn't have to watch out for someone who just needed to blow off steam.

I made sure to watch for people that were in moods for violence, but after they left, I'd be back at staring blankly around the place at nothing in particular for nine hours, taking only one five minute small break to eat and take a bathroom break. Thanks to the length of time I work, my paycheck for last week's time was a total of seven hundred lien. A good chunk of money for a guy that had very little upkeep cost.

I went through my stats as I waited for the day to end, trying to kill time instead of just feeling time suck the life out of me.

**Name: Jaune Arc  
****Level: 20  
****Next level: 45%  
****Title: The Disgrace  
****HP: 1800  
****MP: 1160  
****STR: 45  
****VIT: 80  
****DEX: 70  
****INT: 43  
****WIS: 28  
****LUK: 23  
****Points: 33**

**Skills: (Range 1-Max)**

**Gamer's Body (Passive)** – Max

**Gamer's Mind (Passive)** – Max

**Analyze (Active):** level 32 - Observing objects, situations, and persons allows the user to quickly gather information. The higher the skill, the greater the data obtained!

**Vitality Affiliation** **(Passive)**: Level 7 - +70% stamina, +70% stamina regeneration

**Dexterity Affiliation (Passive):** Level 4 - +20% coordination, +20% base speed

**Physical Endurance** **(Passive):** level 19 - 38% less physical damage

**Reloading (Passive)**: level 3 – ability to make bullets, +9% more damage from bullets made

**Insight (Active)**: level 11 – Find the true motives and mood of people. More details as levels are gained

**Diagnosis (Passive):** level 1 - The ability to identify an injury or disease before attempting a cure. 10% chance of diagnosing an injury, 10% chance of diagnosing disease with a glance at symptoms

**First-Aid (Passive):** Level 1– Fix up small wounds or bones. +10% more health gained from healing

**Firearms:**

**Pistol Mastery (Passive):** level 7 - Use of a pistol - +35% damage and accuracy  
**Rifle Mastery (Passive): **level 6 - Use of Rifle - +30% damage and accuracy  
**Sniper Mastery (Passive):** level 4 - Use of scoped weapons - +20% damage and accuracy. +12% steadiness

**Sense Danger (Passive/ Active):** level 20 - Allows user to sense when something bad might happen! Gives location of the danger up to fifty meters. Active: 1 mp every 20 seconds, increases range by two hundred meters,

**Sword Mastery (Passive): **level 32 - The ability to effectively use sword in combat. + 160% damage with swords, +160% speed with swords

**Sharpening(Passive):** level 4 – Sharpening a blade to a fine edge. +40% damage for the first ten attacks, blade keeps edge for 40% longer

**Hand to Hand (Passive): **level 16 - Fighting without weapons. +80% damage with body, +80% speed with body in combat. Augments all aspects of combat.

**Stealth (Passive/ Active)**: Level 5 – Ability to sneak around without being seen or heard. +26% quieter everything, -36% smell. Active, +46% quieter everything. Scent is eliminated, 18 MP every 10 seconds

**Dodge (Passive)**: level 17 – ability to get out of the way

**Block (Passive)**: level 7 – The ability to block a hit.

**Free-Running(Passive/ Active)**: level 29 – Ability to move with greater speed and agility over and on obstacles. +66% base running speed, +15% fall damage reduction, +106% movement speed while active 8 MP every 10 seconds,

**Parry (Passive)**: level 7 – The ability to redirect a strike

**Overdo (Active):** level 4 - The ability to go past your normal limits in desperate situations, + 40% to physical stats, 1% of MP per second

**Scavenge (Passive): **level 9 - The ability to find food and supplies in the wild or trash

**Acting (Passive):** Level 2 – Put on a convincing role that is not your own. +4% quality of acting

**Drugs Tolerance:**

**Alcohol (Passive):** level 6 - Ability to hold drink. -6% penalty and negative effects

**Housework:**

**Dish Washing (Passive):** level 4 - 20% speed at dishes  
**Laundry (Passive): **Level 2 – Fight the stains with the might of your hands! +10% speed washing clothes  
**Cooking (Passive): **level 2 - 7% better quality food

**Tactics:**

**Team Tactics (Passive):** Level 19 – Ability to plan and fight a battle with a team. +38% better plans made within a team  
**War Tactics (Passive):** Level 16 – Ability to plan and shape a battle as a leader. +32% better plans made for large scale battles  
**Guerrilla Warfare Tactics (Passive)**: Level 25 – Some battles aren't won by head on fighting. +50% better planning for taking on fighting forces larger than own

**Driving:**

**Class C Driving (Passive): **Level 1 – Can drive any noncommercial vehicle weighing 26,000 pounds or less except motorcycles. +1% control over vehicle

'I've done good for myself in these months,' I thought with a small smile on my lips. I was no where need good enough for the academy, but I had time on my side for that cause. I didn't plan to keep this job forever, just until I went to the academy, then I could be a true hunter.

"Hey, watch where you're going bitch!" Someone yelled nearby by. My head whipped around and I saw a large man holding a short man by the collar. The big man was yelling obscenities at the shorter one, so I quickly ran over to break things up before it got annoying.

I got in between the two and used my above average strength to push the pair apart. The smaller man fell while the bigger one just stumbled a bit. "Break it up gentlemen before we have to kick you out."

The big man looked to only get angrier at my words, "Kick me out?! Who do you think you are, you midget prick?!" The big man yelled as he fumbled with his pockets. I raised an eyebrow as he tried to grab something, so I took a step into his personal space. As I took this step, he pulled out what he was going for, so I snatched it out of his hand.

I found it to be a small, two shot pistol used back before dust got revolutionized. I absently pushed the man back as I looked at the small dust pistol. "What did you plan to do with this?" I asked skeptically as I hung the pistol between my index and thumb. "Annoy people?"

The man gave a lunge at me, but in the face of people like Bic and Yang, this guy was slower than a rock. I ducked low and took the man's legs out before standing to my feet, flipping the man over my back for him to hit the ground hard. The man was groaning on the ground as I turned back around, straightening my suit from the quick action.

Mike jumped over the counter with something metal in his hands. I kept the dinky little pistol trained on the man as Mike handcuffed him with standard cuffs. There were some special ones that make people weaker, but that wasn't needed for most people, this case being one of them.

Some more of the guards arrived and one of them dragged the man to his feet before marching him outside. The small man that was caught up in the incident decided to follow them out the door, his night most likely ruined by what happened. I watched them leave until I remembered that I still had the man's gun in my hand. "What do I do with you?" I asked the gun in my hand.

Mike came over when he heard this and told me, "I'll take it, I've been meaning to get a gun for when some drunkard tries something when I'm on shift." I shrugged and passed the man the firearm. The thing looked new, but it was obviously not meant to be used in combat. It fitted the bartender. It was the guard's job to take down any threats that could hurt them after all, not the other way around.

I shook my head at the whole thing and went back to leaning against the wall. I made sure to be extra vigilant after the fight, even though I stopped it before anything bad happened, I should have been ready to stop the man before he started the incident.


	7. Chapter 7

**Yo!**

* * *

Chapter 7

It was nearing two and I couldn't help but wonder how I would be fitting school into my life. I was good to go after six hours of sleep, but with my schedule and the time school starts, I would be getting two to four hours a night, depending on how fast I moved, if I decided sleeping on the school building was a good idea. I'd have four hours between school and here, but that would be reserved to getting here and minor training.

It hit me that I would be one busy sap for the next few years. I had to go to school, do a nine hour shift, run to the places I needed to go and on the weekends, visit my sisters, then go hunting for Grimm or whatever the job would be.

I closed my eyes and thumped my head back against the wall before refocusing on the job at hand. I'll deal with everything once I needed to. That may be irresponsible, but I liked the atmosphere here and if I wanted to one day rent an apartment, I would need this job.

Once the club closed down, I slumped my shoulders and loosened the red tie from my neck. Man, now I got to get to the forest for a quick nap, or maybe just head right to school, if I relax, I could get there at five-thirty and sign up. "Hey Arc?" I heard mike call. I looked back at him as I stopped walking. "Why do you always change before you leave man, you ashamed of the suit or something?"

When I saw the suspicion in his eyes, I raised both my hands to frantically wave that nonsensical idea away. "No, no, no! I quite like this suit, but seeing as I'm homeless, I really don't want to mess it up on the ground! Um... I do have to go though, so I'll cya tomorrow Mike!"

I bolted to the bathroom and quickly changed, so I could get a head start to the high school. Once I was in a tanktop and my jeans, I was out of the club and on the rooftops, my pistol strapped to my leg in a holster I picked up last week. It was adjustable to fit on my legs which was arguable better than the waist with the kind of clothing I prefer. I left my sword in my inventory a I didn't need the thing anytime soon outside of practice.

I was tired, so I didn't activate the skill to increase my speed. It was pitch dark as I arrived at the school It was only the grace of street lights that I could continue what I do everyday after work. I rolled to a stop next to the high school and pulled my scroll from my inventory.

The lit screen showed that it was five in the morning, almost on the dot. I sighed as I tossed the scroll back into my inventory, I couldn't take a nap or else I'd be asleep for the next two hours for when school started.

I pulled my holster off my leg now that I wasn't running and stashed the gun in the back of my waist. I flipped my oversized tank top over the firearm and laid back to enjoy the feel of the late summer night. It was still quite hot, but nothing that I wasn't use to already. I went through my menus and was pleasantly surprised that I had gained another level in my free-running skill.

After the half an hour, I started seeing movement inside the school, so I gave them another fifteen minutes before I got up from the ground and went to the door. I gave a hard yawn as I opened the front door. 'Damn, I'm too tired for this.' I walked into the main office and saw a secretary tapping away at her keyboard. "Hello," I called out as I approached the desk.

The woman jumped at my voice, must have not heard me come in. The woman looked up and gave me a strange look. "School doesn't start for another two hours young man."

"I know. I was told to come by today to enroll," I replied as I rubbed my eyes, trying to keep them open. This was my second day without any sleep and I just wanted to jump into a nice high tree branch right now. "Name's Jaune Arc."

The woman typed some stuff into her computer before nodding, "Yes. Alright, let me print you you're schedule. You start today."

"Fuck," I mumble under my breath due to having to get ready today as the woman got up and went to the printer. I took the offered paper when she returned and saw I had English first period, History next, then Algebra, and lastly Biology. "Double fuck," I muttered when I saw I had all the hard classes first off. I looked at the next semester's and saw that I had an art course, Greek language from a random selection of their language course when I asked, Physical Education for a term, then health, and drama class as a random elective like how the language was random.

I folded up the note and placed it in my pocket, "Do you know a store that would be open now that sold school supplies?" I asked secretary desperately. I really didn't want to cut into my training time with something like school shopping.

The secretary tapped her desk for a second before nodding, "That store down on Manaple's street, the one by Food Gazelle should be opening at six."

I gave a hasty thanks as I darted out of the school and towards where she spoke of. I knew the street as that was where my family got their groceries. It was only seven miles away. I activated my skill and was soon flying across the rooftops faster than I should really have been able to. It only took half an hour to reach the place with outright climbing and running.

It didn't take long to grab everything as they were in the surplus bins around the place for half off. I grabbed a black backpack, some paper, pencils, pens, notebooks, and folders within five minutes of getting to the store. As I was the only one really in the place, I was able to check out in only two minutes. I tossed the bags into the pack to sort out later before dashing out of the store, the sun slowly rising as I took to the roofs again.

I made it back to the school in an hour, so I had about an hour and some to fix up my backpack. I took out all the bags, did all that was needed to sort a backpack to some semblance of order before tossing the trash. I looked back at the clock in the hallway I found myself in and saw that I killed fifteen minutes. "Damn," I sighed before going off to hunt for my class.

The halls were familiar to me. Thanks to the standardization of the education system, the schools were all made in the same layouts for maximum efficiency. They were all made to be neutral, bland, and bare to save money no matter what set of students work there. There had been outcries for reform, but the cries were met with roadblocks such as the lack of want to give up money for children, so we're were tasked with enduring the bleak environment for fourteen years of our lives before being thrust into the world.

I personally hated school with a passion mainly due to the building. Teachers, students, learning, all took a backseat to how suicidally dull the place was to me. I gave a groan and found the class I had to attend. I already knew I would get nothing done and probably pass out mid class due to fatigue. Why couldn't there be a skill for staying awake?

I stood outside the door, my bag limply hanging from my hand while the other read some book that I picked up from the library. It was about some strange world where monsters ruled and were scared shitless of humans. It was pretty funny and did a good job in distracting me from my physical state.

I finished the book just as the bell for class began. I stashed the book in my inventory and checked the door, locked. I sighed and relaxed back into the wall. I watched some students meander on by as they walked to their classes at a slow pace.

After ten minutes, I saw an adult walking down the hall and stopped at the door I was next to. The man pulled a keyring from his pocket and opened the door, stepping into the room. I followed him in and to his desk. "What do you need student?" The man asked as he didn't look up, just started unpacking his bag.

"I am in your class I believe, are you Mister Antony?"

"That I am student. Take a seat in the back without a name card on it. Do not move nor make a peep while in my class and you will be fine," the man said in a slight condescending tone as he continued to take out his stuff.

The man seemed to have a look of water that from my brief experience in bars, looked slightly like some type of alcohol. I ignored this and walked over to a free desk and sat down. The moment I sat down, my head hit the wooden surface and I was out like a light.

"Mister Arc!" I heard a stern voice bark. My head shot up and I was out of my seat at attention in seconds. Shit, I feel asleep in training again!

My heels clicked dully together in my military boots as I answered with a sound, "Sir!" I blinked and looked around. "huh, oh right, school. I looked lazily at the teacher as I sat back down, the class snickering at me. "What you need sir?"

The man sneered at me, "It's 'What do you need, sir.' Never use that street trash in my classroom again! And, never sleep in my class, it is a disrespect towards everyone in this class!" I had no idea what he was talking about, so I just lazily gave a hand gesture. "Use your words, boy!"

"Fine, I won't sleep in your class. Sorry, I haven't slept in two days."

"Don't make up excuses boy! They won't help you in the real world when you have a job!" I sighed and sit my chin down on the desk, this was going to be a long day. "how do you expect to get a job if you can't even speak correctly or stay awake?!" The man kept staring at me for some reason. "Well?! How do you?!"

I blinked at him with a raised eyebrow. "That wasn't a rhetorical question?"

The man took a hearty and condescending tone. "Rhetorical questions are for the feeble-minded mister Arc. I will not stand their use near me either. Now answer the question."

I sat up and moaned into my hands. "I gave up sleep and training for this. Why?" I scrubbed my face and looked up at the man with a glare, "I have two jobs, so I think I'm fine in that department, sir."

The man chuckled with mocking mirth, his eyes twinkling with malice, "Oh and what do you do with your brutish ways?" I looked around to check if this was serious, but from the uncomfortable looks my classmates held, it was.

I slammed my forehead into the desk hard to wake myself up further before dealing with this smug dick. What the hell was his deal with me, I haven't been here for more than a few days and I only missed about a week of school or something. "I'm an employee for a night club where I guard them as well as do special tasks and a Tyro-Hunter when I have free-time."

"Exactly, a brute. Can't use your brain so you have to use your muscles!" I just dropped my forehead to the table as the man continued to rattle on for a few more minutes before going back to the lesson. I made sure to listen from my position, but I already knew which class I wouldn't be trying hard in.

Once the bell rung, I was out of my chair and already through the door before anyone had time to put away whatever work they did. I didn't even bother with the assignment which was to do an essay on how some girl was depressed and what that meant to her family using some prompt that I didn't bother even taking from the desk. I was just not in the mood for this anymore.

I arrived at the history class with time to spare and slinked into the room, where I saw a middle age man sitting behind a desk with towers of books around him that all seemed to have tabs sticking out of pages. "Um, are you Mister Bark?" I asked the man from next to the door.

The man looked up and gave me a smile, "Yes, how may I help you?"

"I'm Jaune Arc, I think I am in your class for this period." The man turned to his computer and tapped a few keys.

A few seconds later, the screen turned white as the man opened his email. He hummed as he scrolled through them and found what he was looking for, "Here you are. Alright, take a seat wherever there are no names. I'll put you down on my seating chart." I did so and tried not to fall asleep this time, no matter how heavy my eyes were.

The class slowly filtered in. They gave me a glance, but went back to talking with their friends. After four minutes, the bell rung and Mister bark took to the front of the class. "Welcome and I'm happy to say we have a new student. Mister Arc," He gestured at me, "Will be joining us from here on out. Now, please help him catch up if you can. We are currently covering the colonization of northern Vale."

The listen was interesting, if useless in my mind. I easily followed and remembered the important bits that he stressed through the listen. Thankfully the man didn't drone on and actually tried to engage the class in the lesson which went a long way in keeping me awake.

By the time the bell rung, my mood had lifted a good bit and I found I had a little smile on my face. History was always interesting for me, but I've never had a teacher that actually cared enough to put any energy into it like mister Bark did.

Algebra diminished my mood a bit as I was not all that great with numbers, but it was just the beginning so we were reviewing the last year's material, which was good because I couldn't remember a good bit of it. It slowly came back to me over the period, but by the time the bell rung for our lunch shift, I could only recall three formulas that would help me.

I arrived at the lunch room and got in line with everyone to grab a hot meal. The food of the day seemed to be some flat as pancake battered chicken sandwiches that looked like it was microwaved to hell and back. I ordered two as it was just normal school food that they served kids, not filled with protein for would be hunters.

The lunch was six bucks which was outrageous, but I paid as I hadn't eaten breakfast. I took a seat at an empty table and quickly ate the sandwiches, careful with how I chewed due to the ground up tendons in it. I didn't have any floss on me and I didn't want to have to make a stop for some later. By the time everyone had entered the room, my food was gone and my tray in the trash.

I gave a hard yawn, as I walked out of the room to go explore the school. I was going to make a stop at the library to get some reading in too. I felt that I was close to another level and I just needed to read a text for some time to get to forty-four.

The librarian gave me a look as I entered, but I ignored her and went to the nonfiction section of the room to find some military history for Vacou when they settled down and had to fight with the Khans, a roving band of nomadic warriors that pillaged and burned their way through the country.

It was easy to find a copy, so I opened the book and was soon reading. The text was dry, but I didn't really mind. I only had thirty minutes of free time before class, so I needed to use it the best I could. That was by reading, no matter how much I would like to sleep, I would just feel worse when I would be forced to get up.

I made it through a fourth of the rather short book just as the bell rung. I quickly put the text back on the shelf, dismissing the point I got in Int as I jogged out of the room and towards my next class. The progress was impeded due to the students and their enjoyment of stopping in the middle of a major choke point to hug their friends that they hadn't seen in an hour.

I made it to the science wing of the school just in time for the bell to ring, grumbling under my breath about dumbass slow students. I showed the teacher my schedule without a word and took a seat in the back of the class. I was soon asleep due to the droning quality of my teacher's voice, an old woman that went by the name of Miss Proctor. The elder had a permanent frown on her wrinkled lips and apparently liked to yell as she woke me up a few times by shouting at one of the students she saw that wasn't on task. I picked a good spot in the back corner behind everyone, so she couldn't see me with my head down.

The moment the bell rung, I was out of my seat and the door within seconds. I had three hours to get to Junior's and if I high-tailed it, I should have an extra half an hour to rest. I measured my running speed and found that it was around eighteen miles an hour on a constant with my skill turned on, cut back a few miles for proper stepping on roof tops and I could cover the forty miles to Junior's in roughly two and a half hours.

As I ran along the rooftops, I put on my dress shirt over my shirt along with my glasses too. The frames slightly blocked my scar from the grimm left on my face, but not all the way as it healed thickly, about two centimeters in width along my cheek bone to halfway across the bridge of my nose. It was a pale white that stood out on my tanned face.

Once I had my shirt on, I pulled on my suit jacket and tie as well. Once those were good, I took a slight break to throw on the pants which were thankfully made out a sturdy material that could be easily moved in without tearing.

The shoes were left off as they weren't good for climbing in. I finally made it through the route in one piece, taking a good three hours, leaving me with an hour of free time before my shirt begins at the club. I slid on my dress shoes, the black material shining from where I polished them. I had to look presentable and that means polishing my shoes. I had an image to uphold at my job.

I straightened my tie as I walked in, trying to ignore my lack of sleep. I only had to last for nine more months, then it would be summer break where I could just sleep and train my day away until work. I took a seat at the bar and Mike came over. "You don't look so good there Arc," the man commented as he cleaned a shot glass.

I waved my hand, "Had to enroll in high school, so I never got around to sleeping. Having to run forty miles to and from that place didn't help matters much either."

Mike chuckled at my pain and poured some clear liquid into a glass. "Here, this will get you back on your feet." The man slid down the clear drink and I caught it. I looked at it and even sitting up straight, I could smell the alcohol in it.

I picked it up and examined it further.

**Grain Alcohol, Everclear  
****Effects: -15 INT, -15 WIS, +15 STR for 1 hour  
****Penalty – 120 points in drunken meter  
****Stacks with other alcoholic beverages**

I inhaled deeply when I read those stats. "Mike, man. I have to work today, you can't be sending everclear down my way. Plus I'm still, like early fourteens." The man gave me a stare before pointing at the glass. "Alright, but if I die, I blame you." I took the glass and shot it back in one big gulp.

The burn was amazingly bad and it felt like hellfire as it slid down my throat. I could keep track of the liquid as it made its way to my stomach with ease due to the fire. My sidebar filled with notes that I gained levels in my alcohol tolerance which now stood at a good level nine. "Holy damn!" I coughed out as I shakily put the glass back onto the bar. I glanced up at Mike who had a smug grin on his face. While it had hurt and gotten me in the Buzzed range of drinking, I was wide awake now. "I don't give a damn if that woke me up, that hurt dude!"

"Suck it up buttercup." Was the only reply that graced Mike's lips as he cleaned the glass and went onto getting other people's orders. With a hard hit to my chest, I get off the stool and away from the crazy bartender to relax by the dining area. I still had nearly an hour to kill, so I pulled out my backpack from my inventory under a table and took out my history homework. Now that I was awake and slightly drunk, I was ready to crack down on the text. I had lost about a third of my intellect, but I could always review my paper in the morning.

Being mostly drunk probably didn't help either, but I mostly just had to copy the answers from the book, so sloppy handwriting didn't really matter. I did find that I was past Buzzed and into the actually drunk range. "Drunk - **Emotional instability; loss of critical judgment. Impairment of perception, memory and comprehension. Decreased sensory response; increased reaction time. Reduced visual acuity; peripheral vision and glare recovery. Sensory-motor incoordination; impaired balance. Drowsiness.**"

It was actually a simple matter, even while drunk, to fill in the blank paper from the text for the third chapter because they were plainly written. Once I had finished the questions, I went back to the first chapter and read that and the second chapter to kill time. The text was boring, but I hoped by memorizing the text, I would be able to catch up quicker. I might be forced to read it again later when I'm not drunk as hell so I could recall it the next day though. **Dingaling!** God, this thing made me feel so stupid sometimes. I opened the messages to find that I had gained three points. Two in WIS and one more in INT.

I growled to myself as I shut my book and checked the time. I had three minutes before my shift, so I tossed my book into the backpack and stashed it in my inventory. Once it was safe in my inventory, I pulled out my firearm and put it into my waistband so I had a weapon to protect myself.

I got to my feet and thankfully found that I was now only buzzed due to getting out of the hundred range of points. I made my way over to the bar and leaned against the wall I had claimed as my spot for the week. While I was drunk for a bit, the grain alcohol still had enough kick to it that I was wide-awake and ready to scan the crowds.

By the end of my shift, I was completely sober and ready to drop. I had gained a few more points in Analyze as well as insight, but that didn't make up for the fact I was running into my third day without sleep, well more than an hour of sleep. "You don't look so good there man. Need help?" Mike asked as he wiped down his bar.

I answered in a mutter, "Need sleep, but I have to get to school."

"I could give you a lift there, Carroll High right?" I nodded lazily, not registering his words too well. "Just this once because you look like death and dead men make horrible guards." I gave him a small smile when I finished deciphering his words. "C'mon. I need to get some sleep too."

I changed out of my suit and into my street clothes for the next day. I still had three clean pairs, so I would need to do some laundry come Saturday, but that was fine. I would also need to pick up some more suits so I had spares to wear. A bit larger so I had room to grow in them as my muscles were growing slightly from the little strength training I did, so they would increase when I finally found time to work out proper.

Mike drove a nice car, a four seater sedan that looked to be top of the line, to work. The man must have made great money as the mixer here. I hopped into the passenger seat and off we went. It only took twenty minutes to arrive at the school. That gave me five hours before I had to wake up for class. I gave Mike a thanks as he gunned the engine to get back to his house. English started at 7:30, so I chose to just climb onto the roof before settling down for the night.

The morning sun hit me full in the face as the school bell sounded. I looked up and put on my glasses to find that I had fifteen minutes to get to class. I felt great though, so it was with a skip in my step that I jumped my way down the back of the building to get to ground level.

I made it into class with three minutes to spare, so I sat in my seat and rested my head on my arms as Mister Antony slammed the door shut to signal the starting of class. "Alright, I want your finished essays in the bin! We are continuing to learn about sentence structures!" The man called out and with sleep under my belt, I actually listened, if not participated at all.

It was simple to understand what the man said if you took out every self-serving comment he gave himself as well as all the not so subtly hidden insult towards everyone's intellect. The rest of the day passed fine and I found myself with one more point in WIS for finding the use for paying attention in the grand scheme of things.

The rest of the week passed relatively quickly, it was a Wednesday when I started, so I only had to spend three days in class before I got a break. I easily finished the week even though I was tired as holy hell by Friday's shift. I had only gotten three hours of sleep through the week, so I figured that I was going to focus on doing a job after visiting the sisters. Once I had the job done, I'd be training my free-running further than the level thirty-two it was currently at.

I would be needing the speed boost that it gave me to get through the day. A plus to the lack of vehicle in my life was that not only was the skill increasing at a nice speed, my Vitality Affiliation also gained a point due to me trying to keep going after sprinting full-tilt for one hundred and twenty miles a day. I had more miles under my belt than some cars.

Off a whim one day in class, near the fourth day of school, I added five points to my intelligence score so I could get the affiliation that came with it. "**Intelligence Affiliation** **(Passive)**: Level 2 - +20% Mana points, +20% Mana Regen." Now stood proudly on my menu. I had even gotten a level in it due to free-running technically being a mana using skill.

I woke up at ten in the morning and washed all my dirty clothes in the pond using some detergent I bought. My clothes were soon clean and I slid into my dry, clean set. This was just my shorts and sneakers as I was going to do some exercises based around strength until twelve before I went off to visit family and get another job.

I found my boulder that I had left the last time I trained. It was sunken into the ground, so it took a little wiggling to get it out of the dirt. I laid down on the dusty ground, seeing as it hadn't rained in the last week. I held off on a bath for this exact reason. The dirt coated my back as I rolled the rock above my head, then I gave a hard heave, lifting the one hundred and fifty to eighty pound monster over my head.

I did twenty reps with it before I felt my arms giving way, a warmth shooting through them as my blood pumped in my veins. I tossed the rock to the side and rested for a minute before taking it up again for another twenty reps.

I continued like this for the next two hours. When the sun was peaking in the sky, I was left on my back, mud caking my skin from all the sweat that mixed with it. My muscles were swollen and hot to the touch from the exercises, but I was glad to see that I had gained six levels in my STR, if not any in my VIT. "**Strength Affiliation** **(Passive)**: Level 1 - +5% melee damage, +5% lifting strength, +50% inventory limit." Was my new skill.

I could only stare at it as sweat streamed down my red face, 'Damn... That... That will be helpful when I start leveling it up!' I mentally cheered as my lungs were too busy huffing and puffing for me to vocalize my excitement. Once I felt I had enough air in my lungs, I dragged my tire body for a soak in the pond.

I pulled off my clothing with haphazard movements, my limbs not obeying my commands due to all their work. I rolled into the shallow end of the pond and just let the water ripple over me from the wind. It took over twenty minutes to convince myself to scrap off the mud. By one, I was squeaky clean and stumbling into a now dry set of clothing that I had hanging to soak in the sun's rays to quicken the drying speed. Clothes dry in my inventory, but it was at the speed something would dry in a cave with no light.

Once I was in a clean pair of jeans and a large T-shirt that covered my arms to my elbows, I started sprinting back to my mom's house to meet with them. The woman still hadn't sent a text my way, so I shot a message that said, "On my way to the house to see sisters. Don't tell them." I wanted my arrival to be a surprise for the little ones.

It didn't take me long to get to the house from the forest, only about a half an hour thanks to my speed. I knocked on the door and waited. I heard footsteps approach me and I hoped they were mom's. The door opened and I saw mom standing in front of me. The moment she saw me, I was pulled into a hard hug that almost hurt. "I told you to call!" She yelled into my ear.

'I. Can't. Breath!' I mentally screamed as she squeezed me like a toy that wasn't made to break.

I gave my answer from where my head was which was pressed into her shoulder, "I did. Every other day!" My muffled reply sounded out before she let me go. I backed up back to the doorstep to keep myself from being suffocated again. "I even talked to you for like an hour on my way to my job!"

The older woman just placed her hands on her hips and leaned forward to get in my personal space. "Well then, you better call more than that." I gave a sigh and nodded just to make her drop the issue. I planned to call her after every school day, but I was too tired yesterday to do anything.

Once I had nodded, mom grabbed me by my shoulders and dragged me into the house with her superior strength. I allowed it as it would do no good if I fought her. I jerked when my legs hit the stairs and I looked at my mother's face to see a sinister grin on her lips. 'No... She wouldn't!' I told myself as she dragged me upstairs.

The woman came to a halt outside a white door. "Please don't," I begged her, but her grin only got bigger as she pushed the door open and with one big heave, threw me into the room before slamming the door shut. I rolled to a stop in a pile of stuffed pink animals and toys.

Not a muscle in my body moved, they wouldn't touch me if I was dead. My thought process was found to be false as three weights slammed into different parts of my body as the sound of girls yelling in glee reached my ears. I opened my eyes in defeat and three little faces filled my view. "Hello," I said as if I wasn't being held down by the three little terrors.

"Brother!" The three shouted as one and crushed my torso in hugs that rivaled their mother's. "You're home!" I sighed as they pulled me to sit up and I found myself wearing pink hat with a tea cup in my grasp within seconds. "Just in time to play house!" Joy.

I was able to escape my siblings' hold by six at night where I had to beg off to get to work. I enjoyed my time there, but I really had to get some hunting jobs under my belt if I was trying to get to Beacon. My grades at school were not going to cut it as I could already see myself failing English.

By eight, I was standing at a terminal and sliding my card into the slot. I nearly bypassed the welcome screen until I saw something strange. I didn't have my sole F ranked job, but one C ranked one. 'Oh thank you lady luck!' I shouted in my mind. An C rank job would do wonders for any aspiring hunters to get into an academy.

My mood even better than what it was, I scrolled through the job and found four minor infestations around Vale's country side. None of them grimm, but things like wolves, boars, and... a violent moose problem. They were all close to Vale so I should be able to help the towns out by the end of the day, or the morning of tomorrow. To avoid any delays, I grabbed up seven jobs of a similar nature around the country side before shutting down the terminal.

Once I had the quest logged into my glasses and the map on my scroll, I was out the door and on the roof tops to get to the checkpoint. As I jumped around the roofs, I thought to myself, 'Should I invest in some night vision goggles?'

As I could barely see the ground, I thought the idea had some merit and I did have five grand of spending money on me. The other five was being saved for living expenses. My job paid a good amount, but it was always good to have back up.

It was ten by the time I reached the eastern checkpoint of Vale. I waited for my turn in the line unlike last time as I didn't feel like out running vehicles again. Once I was at the checkpoint, the guard stopped me. "I'm sorry, but I can't allow you by."

I pinched my scarred bridge as I sighed, "I'm a Tyro-Hunter. I have jobs to get to and I'll be needing to travel all night to reach some of these things." I pulled out my license and handed it to the man.

The guard looked it over and back to my face. "Bad picture sir," the man commented as he took out his scroll and started inputting things in it.

"Yeah, not the most flattering thing, but what can ya do?" I shrugged as I watched him type in the license's information. After what seemed like an hour, but the clock told me was ten minutes. The man finished whatever he was doing on his scroll and handed my card back to me.

The guard stepped to the side, "Have a safe trip. There has been an increase in Grimm activity lately, so be weary." I nodded and walked out into the road before I took off running. That was why I skipped the checkpoint last time, that took far too long and now it was even darker.

The town with the wolves was only nine miles to the south, so I took a left turn to the right direction and by the time nine rolled around, I was strolling into the town which still had some stalls open and people walking around. This was the town with the wolf problem, so it was good that I was here at night as it would be a pain in the ass to find where the wolves hunt instead of sleep.

I reported in with the mayor and was out on my way to hunt the buggers. I had my rifle to my shoulder as these were not grimm, they were not built to shrug off dust rounds. A good headshot had the power take them down instead of annoy them greatly and maybe give them a headache.

The woods were silent as I stalked through them, my stealth was on so that the wolves wouldn't be able to pick up my scent. Though my clothes are a different story, but without me giving off a smell, my clothes should be fine for what I'm doing.

Two hours into the hunt, by chance of the moon light, I saw a print near a river. I crouched next to it and saw that it was canine, hopefully the wolves I was hunting. A skill popped up in my face as I thought where the hell they went, "**Tracking (Passive/Active):** Level 1 – Find where your target went by using clues they left behind. Active – See the path they took by having the clues highlighted. 100 MP every ten seconds, clues glow a faint gold."

'Exactly what I needed.' I activated my new skill and I saw a very, very faint gold marking across the river, another paw print if the placement was anything to go by. I waded my way through the river as quietly as I could as I scanned everything around me for any other clues to where I was going or movement.

I arrived at the next track and checked it out, by the toe's positioning, I was able to find where the next set was until it stopped on the dry ground, away from the mud of a river. I checked around a bit more, trying to remember anything I've ever read in books that would help me tracking. I recalled something about... tree branches and... grass? I checked the grass on the ground, crouching low in the absence of mostly any light and by chance, I found a glowing depressed point in the grass.

I stayed low to the ground as I stalked the new track. Once I had its trail, I was moving faster and faster until I came to a cave around three in the morning. The cave looked similar to the one I found the battle-scarred beowolves in, except that this one was well hidden. The other was out in the open, this one I had to go through brush and trees to even spot.

I kept my gun raised in the moonlight, searching for any movement whatsoever. I snuck into the cave over the next three minutes and it was dark as the void inside. I slowly backed out and aimed my rifle into the cave once I was out of the opening.

Once I could see the entrance highlighted in the moonlit night, I fired a single round into the wolf den. An uproar of snarls echoed the clearing once the gun was fired. My ears were open as I watched the entrance, ready to avoid any dangers that may have been lurking outside the cave. I also turned on my danger sense just in case I didn't hear anything.

Some low moving targets darted out of the cave, but I was able to snap a burst into each until my gun clicked empty at the ninth wolf. I ejected the clip with a jerk and yanked the spare I had out of my pocket. I chambered a round just as my danger senses screamed at me to roll to my left.

I followed through with the warning and snapped a burst where I was. The resulting sound was yelps of pain from what was the wolf that attacked me. 'Doing this at night was a terrible idea! I can't see shit!'

I dodged another attack and fired at the creature. It fell without a sound, but my muzzle flash gave me a quick picture of the area. There were three wolves in front of me, so I unloaded around where I saw them, hearing whimpers of agony as my rounds found home. Another set of danger warnings went off, but I heard the snarl this time and swung my rifle around.

The butt of the weapon crashed into the wolf's face, knocking it off course and giving me enough time to put it down. With a growl, I crouched lower to the ground as I searched for my next opponent, I would not be caught off guard again!

The thumping of paws alerted me to the danger, so I spun around and opened up the rest of my clip at the sound of the running animals. A meaty thud echoed the now deafening silent battlefield. I felt a warm weight slide into my leg and laid still.

Not being able to see, I stayed in the clearing for three hours, rifle ready to kill anything that bothered me, but I had the feeling that I had gotten everything that was going to attack. Upon seeing the rising sun, I was able to observe the massacre I reaped on the land.

All around me were puddles of dry blood and dead animals. I gave a sigh as I set to work on the main reason I stayed in the clearing. I needed to grab the loot that was left over as well as skin the animals for their hides for use later. **Skinning (Passive):** Level 1 – Ability to skin creatures. +5% better quality hides, +5% speed of skinning

It took me a good four hours to get all sixteen dead wolves skinned. I inventoried the fur before leaving the clearing. It wasn't that simple of a matter to find where the town was, but I found it thanks to the sound of bustling people. I reported my success to the mayor and she gave me a check for my job.

Now that I had my payment, I quickly ran off to find the next town to do as many jobs as I could.

By ten at night, I was dead tired, my eyes hurt, and I was down about two hundred rounds, but I was finally done with all my work. It didn't take nearly as long thanks to the smaller packs of animals and the fact I could hardly care enough to skin a stupid boar. Not soft enough for my taste. It also helped four jobs were around the same town, so I just did them all at once and cut down their dangerous wildlife population to zero for the next little bit. A bonus was that I had just enough experience that by the end of the week of work, I'll be level twenty-one!

The walk back to the city was in a good mood, if slightly annoyed that it would take me hours of walking to get to school, where I would probably get five hours of sleep if I didn't all out sprint. That wouldn't have been an issue, but I had to use my tracking skill for most of the day and my MP was bone dry.

The road was long, dark, and hot as I jogged along the side. Every once in a while, a car would race by at high speeds, picking up the air around me, making my loose clothing flutter around me. Once I was partially rested and some of my mana was back, I picked up the pace until I was a my full sprinting capability, pumping my legs as I tried to get back to the city faster.

It wasn't long before I ran out of MP from running, only about ten minutes, but that was enough time to get three miles, so that cut my travel time down quite a bit than if I had walked the entire distance.

Getting through the checkpoint was a long process, even more so than the first time, due to coming in. I had to be scanned for any smuggled goods which was annoying, but seeing as I only had the clothes on my back, it was not too bad. My weapons had been stored in my inventory so I didn't have to cart them around for the return trip.

The only thing heard in the dead streets of Vale was the sound of animals in the alleys and my humming as I sprinted silently over the roof tops, training my skill in stealth. I was able to sneak up on the wolves due to them being asleep, but I couldn't even sneak up on a boar that was grazing, it was pathetic and I needed to fix it. My speed may be cut down by about forty percent as I still had to focus to step just right, I may have the knowledge in my subconscious, but I need to bring it forward and get my body use to moving like I want it to. I had to keep working at it until it felt natural to walk without making a sound.

I made it to the school around one, a time I didn't think I'd make to be true to myself. With a gleeful look on my face at the prospect of a full night's rest, I pulled out my sleeping bag and blanket. The sleeping bag went onto the ground to soften up the stonework for my back, which I've noticed didn't care too much about sleeping on the shittiest material, and curled up under the blanket.

All around, the last week had been okay, but I knew a pattern of being bone tired would follow me for many years at this rate. Man, I wasn't looking forward to what I was going to feel like in a month. I'd probably look like some zombie from the movies in that time.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The next morning, I even woke up before the final bell, so I was able to clean off the grease in my hair with some bottled water and shampoo before I had to start the day! As I hummed while washing my hair, I had a set of windows pop up in front of me. 'I swear to grimm, dust, and fucking hell itself, if I just got a skill in washing hair, I'll start killing people!'

"**Singing (Passive):** Level 1 (100) – Shift your voice to make music. +2% quality of sound." and "WIS up, method to keep clean on the go!" I violently shut down the wisdom window and studied the singing one. Was it just the fact that I was able to hum a tune that got me this skill? Weird, usually I had to work hard for a skill or almost die because of something. Except for dish washing, that was just bullshit.

Might as well help that skill along too. At least I liked music, so it wouldn't be a chore to sing under my breath while I run or what not. I would need to buy some music off my scroll to listen to, but that was simple as I could just go to the bank and sign up for a debit card. I had to turn in my checks later anyways.

Getting off the school's roof was easy as it always was and now that I didn't have to fight the bell, I was able to go into the cafeteria to grab some breakfast. I bought a dozen breakfast bars too, so that when I missed breakfast for the rest of the week, I could munch on one between classes to hold me over until lunch.

I made it to my English class and like for the past two weeks, I sat in the back and barely did anything for the class except do what I was assigned as quickly as I could. My intelligence paid off here and I could easy do the writing assignments that were made for the average fourteen year old, IE me before I almost got killed by my mother's husband.

I finished the pop quiz the man gave out quickly and since I was fully rested for once, I just pulled out a high caliber bullet and chewed on the tip as I read one of the library books I had in my "to read" pile. The bullet was a habit I've developed from the boredom of guard duty, I would take what I called my chewing bullet, a disabled dust rifle round, and just chew on the steel tip to pass time.

The book was on the finer tips of driving a motorcycle. It was a skill book, but I had a theory that if I read the thing instead of hitting the learn skill button, I would get the skill and the book would stay intact. If not, I would at least know how to ride the motorcycle enough to try it without the skill until I could get it.

I heard mister Antony start shouting, so I looked up to see him looming over me with an outraged look on his face. Once I saw this, I sighed and tuned into whatever he was yelling about, "All my days, I've never seen someone as much as an utter imbecile than you Arc! Chewing on live ammunition, how much more stupid could you possibly be?!"

I spat the bullet into my hand as I stood up so the man didn't think he was better than me by just hanging over my desk like some demented monkey. "It's not live! I disarmed the damn thing last week! Do you really think I'd put explosive dust anywhere near my face for extended periods of time?! I'm trained in firearms, I'm not that fucking stupid!" I mentally added, 'Though I am stupid enough to shout at my teacher...'

"Get out of my class!" The teacher shouted at me, pointing at the door. I sneered at the man as I tossed my supplies into my backpack and put the bullet back in my mouth. Once the bag was loosely over my shoulder, I walked out of the silent room with everyone watching. Antony made everyone uncomfortable with how he targets people for humiliation, this was the third time I've been sent out of the room, though there was another kid that had been sent out five times due to him asking for the man to simplify what he was saying.

I still had half an hour until History, so I decided to hang out in the library once more and finish my book on motorcycle driving, then if my theory worked, read up on some of the engineering books in this library.

The book was a simple read, focusing more on traffic law than the actual driving of the motorcycle. Once I hit the back, I was estatic to find a window popped up in my face. I quickly looked it over and found it to say, "Skill learned! **Class M Driving (Passive): **Level 1 – Can drive any two-wheeled vehicle." If I wasn't in the library, I would have gave a cry of victory, but as it was, I did a little hissing, "Yessss!" under my breath while doing tight fist pumps to avoid attention.

Once the book was back in the return slot, I went over to the engineering section. I thought a good place to start was the weapon section. I picked out the simplest book there among the very small selection that they had, which was just on the beginning of weapon crafting and maintenance. "**Would you like to learn category, Weapon Craft?**" I hit the no button that accompanied the window. "**Would you like to learn skills; Mecha-Shift Weapon Creation, Mecha-Shift Weapon Maintenance, Forging?**" It was with a hungry expression of knowledge on my face that I slammed my finger into the no button and opened the book.

The book was short and to the point on how make an incredible simple weapon that could shift at the touch of a button. I was even able to finish it in the short time I had until class ended. "**New Category unlocked! Weapon Crafting! New skills Unlocked!**

**Mecha-Shift Weapon Creation (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to craft a weapon that can mecha-shift. +2% faster at planning weapon design, +2% faster build speed.

**Mecha-Shift Weapon Maintenance (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to maintain mecha-shift weaponry. +2% faster diagnose the issue with weapon, +2% faster at fixing issue

**Forging (Passive):** Level 1 – Ability to shape alloys into usable pieces. +2% quality of creation, +2% speed of crafting."

I could just barely force my face into a neutral mask as I slid the book back onto the shelf which actually netted me two levels in acting. I thought about the skills from the book, absently dismissing the acting window, and found that I could remember everything the book taught and could picture the actions in my mind on how to accomplish the work. I even had knowledge that the book didn't cover, like how I could shape a blade or how to shape the metal that I smelted into the parts. I knew these things due to the forging skill that the book briefly touched on.

It was with a giddy step that I made my way to the history class and into my seat. It may be quite a long time, but I could see myself making my own weapon once I could afford my own materials and a place to rent. Until than, I would need to find a book on forging to see if I could set up a homemade forge for my own practicing use.

I made sure to read some of my history teach some more after I had gotten drunk, so I was more than caught up with the class at this point in time. The day passed quickly after my first class and I was in the club by five-thirty with another level in my free-running. The detour was to deposit my checks from the hunting jobs.

Once I came back from the bathroom in my full suit along with the fedora that I was given to complete my outfit, I took a seat at a table to complete my homework quickly as well as study a bit. I was apparently extremely close to my next INT because I got two by the time the hour was up.

Once my scroll vibrated in my pocket and my HUD told me that it was six. Time for me to grab my new spot along the wall to guard for the week. I opened my messages with my eyes and scanned the sole email I had from Junior. I had a few from my mother that I had responded to during lunch. I was to set up by the DJ booth this time around.

I sighed and got off my ass to get on with my job.

\- Time skip, three month

The weeks of little sleep turned into months of little sleep until it was December and the last day before the holiday break. In the three month time, I had gotten twenty more F jobs under my belt as well as gotten another level along with the one I was waiting for my job to finish with. The jobs were simple help missions, easy stuff like animal hunts, small grimm packs that were the weakest variety out there and lastly patrol jobs for events around Vale.

Along with these levels, I had gained something more valuable, levels in my stats.

**Name: Jaune Arc  
****Level: 22  
****Next level: 7%  
****Title: The Disgrace  
****HP: 2020  
****MP : 1520 + 40%  
****STR 60  
****VIT: 85  
****DEX: 75  
****INT: 60  
****WIS: 41  
****LUK: 23  
****Points: 38**

My strength and intelligence were what really went up. I took to carrying weights around in my backpack and wearing a bulletproof vest with heavy ballistic plates under my hoodie since I no longer could wear t-shirts outside. This had gotten me use to wearing armor on my torso for jobs, so I had to compensate by being quicker than I was normally, gaining me a level in my affliction with Dexterity.

Junior still had not called on my expertise for any jobs that he may have needed me to do, so I was perfectly fine doing guard duty, it was what I knew and I was damn good at keeping the peace in the club. The rest of my skills were slowly increasing due to my uses, like stealth was at nine and my free-running was one level off before it got to forty.

Outside of my madness, my grades were great in every class, but my English course which was just bordering a F grade at 60%. I didn't care, just so long that I passed. I hardly even attended the classes to their fullest anymore. I would just do my work and then leave before the teacher forced me out. I used that extra time to learn some crafting. I had skills in engine working and utilities which would be coming in handy whenever I decided that getting an apartment was a good thing, or even had time to look for one of the damn things. I even got so far as to price check them, the price was averaging around five hundred an apartment, but I couldn't see myself making it from my apartment to school that fast to get there before the bell.

I had outgrown my suits at the club, so I had used two weeks of paychecks to pick up five sets that were slightly bigger than I was to continue allow room to grow, but still looked like they fitted me. The material I had the suits made with allowed for fast movements, the type hunters had for when they went to balls, but wanted to be able to still move quickly in. I found that I really liked how my new suits felt and I would sometimes find that I wear one to school just because I felt like it that day.

It was due to my weird tendencies and schedule that I had absolutely no friends. I was too different for people that knew me before to be comfortable around me and too confrontational with Antony for the smarter people to be around me. The fact that I switched between dressing like a businessman and a pauper on a dime kept the "Cool" kids away from me. The fact I was actually homeless made me dressing like one not out of place.

My hair was slightly shaggy from the seven months without a haircut, so I took myself to a barber to get it hacked back into shape, the sides were short, near military specification, but still not quite there with the middle of my fringe a tad bit longer that it would reach my eyebrows if I didn't sweep it up and slightly back and right with a comb, turning it into a fauxhawk style without the height. I liked the little extension it gave my hair since my locks were naturally poofy, plus if I ever got bored with it or felt like changing a little, I could sweep it to the left just as easy.

The bell for the end of the week rang, only one more week of school until I could get some sleep, see my family, and work out. Another thing that had changed since I left was my relationship with my mother. We were much closer now, not to the point where I would follow her nagging, but I did enjoy spending time with her where I use to loathed being in her presence.

As I packed up my stuff for the end of the day, I pulled out my hat and glasses from my pack, read inventory, and slid the clothing on as I slung the bag over my shoulder. I already had my clean suit on and straight, so I was ready for the quick run to Junior's which had gotten shorter to two hours and fifteen minutes thanks to the speed I'd worked on for the last half year along with the familiarity of the route. "Ah, Mister Arc, may I speak with you for a second?!" I heard a voice call out as I was walking out of the class. I looked over as I straightened my tie to see a large woman hustling over through the traffic that was students trying to get out of school.

I took a step to the side and leaned against the lockers pulling out some running shoes from my pack and switched out my shining dress shoes for them. I was lacing them up as the woman reached me. "Mister Arc, could you please come this way?" I looked at her before sending an Insight inspection at her.

"Relieved that she caught the target. Excited about asking target something."

After I had read the information, I nodded my head as I got to my feet from where I was tying my shoes. "I have four hours before I need to get to my job, so please make it quick as I have no car and it's forty miles away."

The woman looked at me up and down, "Forty miles? You run that everyday?" I gave her a sharp nod that told her that I wouldn't continue with that line of conversation. We went across the school to the music section. "I am Miss Garza, the drama teacher for this school," the woman explained as we entered a class with a mini-stage on it. Within the room, there were ten people all milling around, but when we entered, they all turned to stare at me. "we are doing a play on the Nightmare before Christmas, but sadly, the person playing Jack Skellington had to leave us due to terrible grades in his English class. So we are in need for someone to play him, but have only twenty days."

I stared at her and the class that was meeting there, "And... Why am I here? I'm no actor, the most I could play would be some thug in the background. I also don't know anyone, so I would be pointless for spreading the word."

The woman clapped her hands as she moved forward, "Ah, but no one else could play Jack Skellington like you would be able too! I can see it, you have so much potential in this art Mister Arc!" I watched as she made grand gestures as she told me this. "You are made to be on the stage!"

I stared at the woman as she finished. "I'm made to kill things, miss. It's what I'm good at," I dully answered her, wondering what the hell she was talking about. "I'm a hunter, not an actor." Even though I did have that acting skill.

"You can be so much more! You even look natural in the suit, which is hard to come by in this high school! You would just have to remember a few lines, some songs, and a couple dance numbers!" I rubbed my eyes as she spoke. "It'll only take an hour after school everyday!" The woman saw that I had no interest whatsoever in this. "I'll give you a large extra credit if you pull it off for drama next semester."

My hands covered my face as I groaned into them, "Fine, fine already," I told her. "I'll play the damn skeleton, I need a script and I'll read it over at work today. I'm guarding the DJ this week, so I should be fine reading for a bit." The woman gave a squeal as she hugged her group of cast members who were all looking at me with pity.

The woman dashed out of the room, moving more than I thought her heavy body could go. "Damn. What have I gotten myself into?" I muttered to myself as I made sure I had my firearm still in the back holster I had sewed into my jacket. I leaned against the wall as I waited for the teacher to come back. The moment my back touched the wall, the group came over.

The leader, a junior student with long reddish orange hair that went down to her waist, spoke first. "Hello, I'm Ashley, welcome to the team." I gave her a smile and a nod from my position against the wall.

"Jaune Arc, short, sweet, and rolls off the tongue." I leaned forward with a smirk, "Ladies love it."

The redhead giggled along with the laughter of the rest of the crew. "Really, and how many have you used that line on?"

I gave another smirk and answered, "Just you. Haven't really held a conversation with a woman in over three months and that was when she beat the shit out of me for the chance to go to Signal." I barked out a laugh as I pushed myself off the wall. "Anything I should know before I leave for the day. I have an essay due tomorrow and I've got only two hours to do it, well, one and a half now if I book it."

Ashley nodded and answered, "Your character is an inherently violent being, while wanting something different, he still brings over the subtle violence with him even through the depression that Kevin could not bring to the table. Do you think you can?"

I thought about it, "Could I bring a violent nature to the table?" I asked aloud. "Yes." I answered myself without hesitation a second later. The moment I said yes, I saw the teacher hustle out of her office with a stack of papers in hand. "I've got to go. See you all tomorrow I guess."

**Quest:  
****Successfully play Jack Skellington in School Play  
****days until play (20/20). Plays remaining (4/4)  
****Reward: 5000 Experience, extra credit in Drama class  
****Denial: Disapproval of teacher, Miss Garza  
****Failure: Disappointment of play crew, humiliation in front of school and parents of students**

Well then, it would seem I must do a good job at this. It was with a heavy heart that I place five more points into my INT to boost my memory and thought processing speed so that I may remember the play in time. Twenty days was a lot, but fifty hours of study time to learn a play that I would need to star in was not enough time even with my sixty intelligence. I could feel the extra five clear up my mind a bit more, making it easy to remember more things than I already could.

I accepted the job mentally as I grabbed the script from the teachers hands. "I'll swing by tomorrow. I've got to go though, so... Bye!" I turned around and dashed out of the class , my speed going from standing to twenty miles an hour in only a few seconds as I sprinted out of the school and towards Junior's. I really had to get that essay done, it would push me over to an F and that man made sure he only graded my work to be at most a C even if it was A material.

I made it to the club with an hour to spare due to a detour because of construction. I wasted no time in writing my essay. It was on an argument on should Tyro-Hunter's have a more difficult test and my stand was a resounding yes. I somehow had gotten in, so it was too easy. Even with where I'm at, going against a Minor was still dangerous and no one had buffs tied to their person, so they would die a horrid death.

Since I knew the process and had my own experience to call from which negated the need for sources except for statistics on causality rates of Tyro-Hunters that solo and a few more things, I had the essay done in by the beginning of my shift. I took my place by the DJ booth and began scanning the crowd with my level fifty analyze skill, getting the same info as I always did. I can only guess that the higher it went now was to get more information on high level things because level five teenagers weren't giving me anything new for the past thirty levels. My insight however was getting slightly better, at level sixteen, which gained me a enough information to tell what they were going to do and the emotions that drove it. Since it was early, I pulled out my script and started reading it while splitting my attention to the door and the dance floor in case of trouble.

It was nearing ten when I finished the script. "A few lines, my white ass!" I grumbled under my breath as I stashed the script. "I'm in almost every fucking scene and I have nine songs to do!" I moaned into my hands before pulling myself together. "Teacher is bullshit," I grumbled more under my breath as I looked at the crowd to see if anything was wrong.

I didn't notice anything special, so I started using insight random people until I reached the bar. Most were fine, but I found three questionable people, by questionable, I meant that I would be needing a gun soon, questionable. "Drugged, alcohol. Excited to do something violent. Waiting for something, reasonable deduction is a signal to begin whatever his group would be doing." The text box told me. I tossed an analysis his way and it told me he was armed, something new to me as I hadn't scanned anyone armed before. I quickly sweeped my eyes frantically around the bar until I found a similar message by the dining area.

I pressed in my comms which was an earpiece and a small mike on my jacket. "Alert, two suspects waiting for a signal of some type. One third seat from right end of the bar, has a loaded weapon on his person, other sitting at table three, I would guess the same applies, but I can't get a good look at him without seeming obvious. I suspect more on the dance floor."

"Roger. You heard him, Johnson, Daniels, take the table. Nicholson, Arc, take the bar," Junior's voice replied over the comms. I gave a yawn as I left my station to go to the bar. My pace wasn't hurried, just like the rest of us. Need not set things off before we were ready.

I called out as I approached, "Mike, give me a Blue Sun." The man nodded and placed a bottle onto the bar where I took a seat at the fourth seat to the end of the bar. As he did so, confirmation that my co-workers were in position filled my ear.

Junior gave a short word that kicked everything into gear. "Begin." I grabbed the bottle and swung it up in an arch that shattered against the gunman's face. A sound of screaming commands filled the dining area as they chucked the man there to the floor.

Nicholson mounted the downed man and ripped open his jacket to find a large dust-powered pistol that was fully loaded. As he flipped him to slap some handcuffs on, I drew out my pistol and advanced on the dance floor. "Remaining men, cover the dance floor, get them down and search them, Arc!" Junior shouted over the chaos in our earpieces.

On the command, I shouted, "Get on the floor!" This was serious enough for the DJ to stop playing and he was known for keeping a tune through major bar fights. The dancers were slow to reply, so Junior fired off a gun from his place overlooking the club. This had people moving and I quickly started to analyze the people for firearms as I walked through their numbers. If they were clean, I tapped them on the shoulder, "Get over by the dining area." The people were quick to reply until I neared the center.

One man was doing a good job hiding, but once I gave the all clear to his cover, he leaped into action and placed a gun barrel between my eyes. "Don't move!" The man shouted. He looked around frantically as everyone started to converge on us. "Nobody move and the guy doesn't get a bullet in his head!" The man, a lanky fellow with blond hair gave me a smirk before backhanding me with the gun butt. The damage was minimal, so the only thing that moved was my hat and glasses.

"Ha, you're just some brat! Ah, such a sad situation too, looks like you won't be going home to be with mommy tonight." The man started to chuckle madly before he struck me again and again with the butt of his weapon. I tried to raise my weapon, but the man smashed it out of my hand as he held me in place with the gun barrel.

"You ruined our plan you know. I was going to totally waste the brat, but of course, it had to be stopped by some no name little shit. I mean, look at you!" The man turned his head to the side. "Look at this little bitch, everyone!" The man withdrew the gun and slugged me across the jaw. It was barely stronger than his hits before, but I allowed myself to tumble to the side.

I landed on something with a handle that was digging into my black dress shirt. A hand grabbed me by my collar and hauled me to my feet. As my torso was coming off the floor, my hand scooped up the pistol I landed on, said pistol the man foolishly allowed to stay within reach of the hostage.

The gangster's arm wrapped around my neck as I was brought fully to my feet, the gun against the side of my temple. "So this is how it's going to be, bring the brat out and I won't shot the kid. Vandals will have their vic-"

Crack! A loud noise echoed the now silent club, interrupting the man's mad rant. The man gave a cough as I grabbed the gunman's arm and broke it over my shoulder, before firing again, the barrel inside my jacket, firing through the material, barrel pressed against his stomach.

I spun around, withdrawing the recovered firearm from the jacket and shoved it into the wailing man's stomach before discharging another round. On the fifth shot, I pulled the man towards me as I sidestepped, so the bleeding man went sprawling onto the floor, gun clattering out of his hand. As his body bounced to a stop, I raised my pistol and sent a last round into the back of his head, the dome blew off and blood was soon all over the floor in a puddle around the man.

I looked down at his body, 'Well... This was not how I saw my day going.' I shook off that thought as I turned and continued doing my checks. The people would try and back away from me, the fact that I just killed a man in front of them justified things, but I had a job to do. I gained an analysis on everyone I looked at and just jerked my hand at them and to the dining area. I came to the fifth to last person and I received this information from the green-haired man.

**James Ironside  
****Level: 10  
****400/400  
****210/210  
****Armed with firearm, pistol variant**

I trained the gun on James. "Hands where I can see them, Greeny," I growled as I kept my eyes on the high-leveled citizen. "Give me your piece."

The man slowly raised his hands and slid it into his jacket's pocket. Out of the jacket came a small pistol that was only slightly bigger than the one that Mike had. I reached forward and grabbed it from the man before throwing it to the side, where one of the guards was standing watch for runners. "That's just for self-defense!" The man cried out, turtling his head down.

"Make him take off his shirt and jacket. If I'm right about who attacked us, they will have a tattoo on their back, a bloody V." I heard over the comms and nodded my head to tell that I understood.

I took a step back and commanded the man, "Up." The man whimpered as he stood. "Take the shirt and jacket off."

"W-what?" The man stuttered out. I gave him a warning in the form of pulling the hammer on my pistol back. "Okay! Okay, just don't shoot!" The man quickly took his clothing off.

As the shirt came off to reveal his slightly muscled body, I growled, "Turn." The man did so and I saw a small angel type tattoo on his back on the right shoulder blade. "Boss?" I asked into my mic.

"It's clean." was my answer. That cleared things up, I didn't really want to have to deal with killing an unarmed man tonight.

"Alright, you're clean. Put your clothing back on and go join the others. You'll get your gun back when you leave and if you return, please leave it at home, our security is sufficient enough to protect our patrons." The man graciously shook his head as he pulled the clothing back on and stumbled away.

It wasn't long after that, that everyone was cleared and were allowed to leave. Once the last person was out, I heard Junior over the comms, "Arc, to my office."

I gave him my confirmation. The pistol went back to its home as I glanced around myself. The two people that were taken down were to the side under armed guard while a few men were cleaning up some of the drug stashes around so that we could call the police to report the crime.

As I passed the bar, Mike tossed me some napkins, and I knew what he meant. I quickly cleaned up my hand from the blood splatter along with dabbing out some of the stray drops that had landed on my suit. Good things these were easy to wash, or I'd be pissed.

The office I walked into was small, not too big, but had luxuries in it that spoke of money. Behind a grand mahogany desk was Junior, who was spinning a cigar around his finger as he faced the wall. On my approached, he spun around and lit his cigar with a match. After taking a few puffs to keep it lit, he spoke around the tobacco product.

The man let smoke leak out of his mouth as he spoke to me,"Nicely done out there, Arc. Couldn't have done better myself. Stupid Vandals thinking they are some hot shit around these parts. I wasn't expecting the assassination attempt though, but it should have been expected, they've been bothering some of my boys for a while." The man sighed as he took another poof of his cigar.

"The night is young, so I will be needing your help. The Vandals do not stick to a code like I do, they like the anarchy they create. Bunch of piss-ants, the lot of them. No respect. Can't even keep their hides clear of charges like we do. This is a time for your talents to come into play. I need you to go to their base and deliver a message for me, kill as many people as you want, but I need you to get into where the boss, Altriz, sleeps. Leave this on his pillow, but do not kill the man, that would defeat the purpose."

**Quest:  
****Deliver message to Altriz without killing him  
****Reward: 10000 experience, 3000 lien  
****Denial: Lower respect from Junior, less jobs in future  
****Failure: Depending on severity, range from death, maiming, or disrespect from Junior**

I gave the man a nod as I took the note, "Where is the base and do you have an idea where he sleeps and the numbers I will be facing? Also, I'm unfortunately no Faunus, I will need a method to see in the dark. Got an NV goggles in the armory that I could borrow or buy?"

The man nodded and pressed his comm, "Emma, bring up a pair of Night-Vision goggles. Do so quickly before the police arrive and we have to seal the armory off." The man released his comms and focused back on me. "The location is in the docking district, near the abandoned part of the district where everything is coming down. Plays hell with my shipping services. Warehouse 12, 13, 14, 15, are under Vandal control and I was informed that Altriz sleeps in one of the lofts within warehouse 12, but switches between the four randomly. You have all night, so be swift, but take no unneeded risks."

"Yes sir," I answered sharply just before the door was knocked opened opened. Emma, a small brunette that worked as Junior's secretary walked in with the goggles in her hands.

"I'll let you borrow them for tonight, but if it goes well and the message is delivered, they're yours." Junior told me as I took the goggles. I gave him a nod before sliding my glasses and hat off my head.

I walked out and the moment I was free from the room, I tossed the three items into my inventory as I analyzed the goggles.

**Night-Vision goggles – Allows wearing to see in the dark  
****Military quality, no hindrance of vision, works in the lowest light**

The goggles went into my inventory after I read it. As I walked out, I made sure to reload my pistol so that I had a full clip. I didn't have many rounds, so I had to make them count, else the assault rifle will be making a show.

The trip to the district took four hours, but as it was nearing two, I had my goggles on which helped so much with running, that I could really book it in the dark. The dock was easy to find and I was running to the abandoned part of it within moments of arriving. As I got closer, I could hear loud electronic music and laughter from men in warehouse 12.

The door was open, so with me in the shadows, I could make out a party going on with a whole lot of debauchery involved. If I remembered right, the Vandals were heavy in the prostitution game, making it a simple thing to justify to myself that killing them wasn't all that bad. When I looked at all the people, I could see only five innocents, which were the five whores that the gang had gotten for their party.

Most were naked and unarmed, which tempted me into doing what I was about to do. I had to be careful about it, but if I pulled it off, some really bad people would be off the street. 'But am I ready to kill so many people?' I asked myself and I found I was completely okay with that. What are people except more advanced animals? Plus these are criminals, so they are not innocent. When I thought about killing innocents or people at the club's dance floor, I got uncomfortable with the idea, so I guessed that the gamer mind was taking away the guilt of dispatching the enemy. These were the enemy after all and I did have a optional kill order for the men.

The assault rifle found home in my hand, even if I was just telling myself that I wouldn't be needing it. That wasn't until I saw four men gang bang a teen girl with their buddies doing the same for four other teens, all of which looked scared and in pain. If I wasn't planning the murder of more than forty people and the circumstances behind this, I'd be a blushing mess, but proprieties made me ignore the state of dress of the women and the actions being done to them.

I placed three spare clips into the pockets of my jacket as I advanced on the party. I had to do this close if I didn't want any innocents to be hit. My goggles in place, I aimed up and discharged a few bursts into the bulbs above, killing the lights on the mens' fun.

There were only nine bulbs that dangled from the rooftops by wires, obviously rigged by some of the gang members. It took a clip to take them all down, but soon, the glass had hit the floor in only five seconds.

I watched as the men scrambled around, tossing the women off their dicks as they looked for some form of weaponry that was under their discarded clothing. I didn't let them look long as I finished putting a fresh clip into the gun and open fire on the enemies. I kept the rifle on single fire as I marched through the warehouse, the only light being from my muzzle flash. It wasn't hard to kill the people, it was easier than the wolf pack because I could see and these people were scrambling around worse than a chicken with its head cut off. The faunus that were there were the first to die as they had the chance of seeing what was going on, having that pesky night vision and all.

It wasn't long until the night sky was filled with screams of terror and pain as I quickly and systematically did my job. It took all three clips to finish off the people as there were a lot of them, some not going down in one shot. Lucky, they were all naked, waiting for their turn or at least in their underwear, so there was no gunfire other than my own. Soon, only whimpering women of the night were left in the large warehouse, huddled in the corner. "Where is Altriz sleeping. I have a message for him," I asked as I stepped over the bodies.

One of the whores, an older teen, no more than nineteen spoke up from the huddle. It was obvious that she couldn't see me, but her hearing was just fine. A dust bullet didn't have anything on the noise from a gun-powdered based round. "M-Mista A s-sleeps in th-the l-loft in f-fifteen."

"Thank you, madam. I am sorry that you had to see that and I wish you luck with your life after today. I would suggest taking your services away from the Vandals." I quickly looted the room of any money that was dropped by the men, but they were at most level tens, so I only came away with what they had on them in real life, which was some guns, spending money, drugs, and bullets. I left the guns, but I took everything else. I could ask Junior if he wanted the drugs for his ring, it was quite a bit. I had also gained around three thousand lien from all their clothing along with miscellaneous things like a box of condoms and normal sun glasses.

I climbed the outside of building fifteen to reach the roof. It wasn't hard thanks to the shipping containers around which were just laying around empty. I found the room by the sound of shouting from sex and the woman calling out Altriz's name. How loud must you be that you didn't notice all the screaming and gunfire just three hundred feet away?

I would need to get into the room as they slept, so I sat down on the roof with my stealth skill on and waited. I quickly learned that they were pretty damn loud in the time I had to sit there. I had to listen to their moans and screams of pleasure for over thirty minutes before it was time for me to do my job. I slid off the roof and swung myself to where the window sill was. I braced my legs against the side as I hung from one arm, so the other could lead with a firearm.

I saw the man sprawled out on bed with three whores on top of him, all naked as the day they were born. Altriz was a large bastard with a sleazy mustache on his lip. The man had little to no muscle, but wasn't fat per say. I opened the window slowly with the toe of my boot. It took a bit of time, but I didn't make too much noise while doing it and by three, I was standing in his room with the note in hand. I looked around as I snuck further in to find his clothing. I smirked and rifled through his pockets to find a keyring, a wad of hundreds, and lastly a pocket knife. I looked around the room for anything else when my eyes landed on a safe in the corner.

A bigger smirk graced my lips as I crept over to it and cracked it open with the key. Inside were stacks of bills, some gold bars, and paperwork of deals that the man had made with people. 'Junior would sure be interested in this.'

I grabbed the paperwork and took out my message. I let the safe stay open, empty of the contents, as I snuck over to the bed and placed the note on the wall. "Never attack us again. We know where you sleep." On the bottom of the letter was two axes crossed together.

I slammed the knife into the wall before dashing out of the room, flinging myself out the window which was thirty feet in the air, but with the containers around, thirty feet became twenty and I could easily manage that drop. I took off at top speed to make it back to Junior before I had to get to school. If I really tried and overdid things, I should be able to get to school only a little late for English.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

It was as the sun was peeking over the horizon that I arrived back at the club. I found it to taped off, so I stored my goggles in my inventory and circled around to where Junior's office was. It took some maneuverings, but I managed to scale the wall using windows and jumps to reach the third floor where the man's office was. I'd never actually scaled a building before, so this was a new experience for me and not a pleasant one as it was HARD. I did net me a point in STR and the hard running got me a point in VIT though. It took a bit of struggling, but I soon got in position so I could look into the window to see Junior talking to some police. Not wanting to interrupt, I hung there for nearing ten minutes before the police finally left. Once the door was closed, I knocked on the window.

I saw the man get out of his chair with an eyebrow raised. The window opened and I climbed through with a huff, arms sore from hanging for the last ten minutes. I rolled through the window and was on my feet next to Junior in a moment. A sound distracted us for a moment and I saw it was a wall-mounted television that showed a familiar scene.

"I am standing here at the docks where a chilling act has been performed sometime last night." There was a reporter standing right against the police tape. I saw that police were carting out dozens of body bags that lined the side of the road which were being loaded into ambulances three at a time.

"Sometime last night, there was a gang massacre of the group that called themselves, the 'Vale Vandals.' Forty five were found dead at a celebration they were having, the only survivors being five unnamed women that informed us that only one person was responsible for this act. Police are skeptical as the women seem to be in shock from witnessing such a terrible crime. We can only believe that a rival gang or a vigilante group did this at this time. We will get back to you with more information as it arrives. Back to you Dan."

I broke my attention from the screen"So... Vandals got the message," I nervously said with an embarrassed blush dusting my cheeks. "Altriz is still alive and is probably upset with this whole thing."

Junior was still watching the television as he answered, "You know, Vandals only had seventy to their numbers. They were not small, but not to our size. I believe wiping out half of our problem calls for an additional reward." I coughed into my fist as I drew out the papers I took. "What's this?"

The man took the papers and flipped through them. In seconds, he was laughing, "My god, Arc! You don't do things even three-fourth of the way! Fuck the reward I was going to give you for the job, this could ruin Altriz and everyone that they are tied to! Here! It's around back and I'll wire the money to your account! It's already in your name as it would have been your reward for doing another job for me, but with this, I don't give a shit about it anymore!" The man continued to laugh as he tossed me some key and went to his seat to read over the papers.

I looked down with confusion at the keys as I rolled out the window, catching myself before I could fall. I scaled down the building and went to the back. The key was double-sided with a square tab along the side with two metal strips. On the key was a button, so I clicked it and something beeps. 'No way.'

A screen burst into my view.

**Quest complete:  
****Reward: 20000 experience, 7000 lien, '03 Night Rider Special, Night-Vision Goggles.**

I leveled up once more, putting me at twenty-three with fifty percent full bar of experience for the next level.

After I got the screens out of my face, I saw a Daniel Davidson sitting in a parking space near the back, under an awning to keep the rain off it in case that it did start to shower. It had a leather seat, a dense body with the engine showing out the sides and T-shaped handle bars unlike the high hanging counterparts they were popular with youth now. The body was a solid matte black with chrome bars, so it didn't shine too much due to the black covering most of the metal, just how I liked my choice of colors. A full head helmet hung from the handlebars which was a matching black.

I swung my leg over the seat and took the helmet off, sliding it over my blond hair. My HUD came to life, but an addition was a mini-map in the upper left-hand corner that had a map of the city with street names and an icon for where I was. Under my ammo counter, was a black bar with a percentage at the end that was at ninety-two percent along with the words, Fuel, under it. How much fuel I had in the tank. The key slid into a slot under the bars, ending with it flush against the body of the bike. The bike purred to life, not loud, but still had a hum to it that felt powerful.

With a smirk, I slowly coasted out of the parking lot and took off to see if I could get to school. I had an hour, but since I had to park at a garage near the school, seeing as I had no license or permission from the school to park there, I would still probably end up a bit late for English which I didn't really care about.

As I cruised through the morning streets, I found that I was getting more comfortable as I rode, by the time I got to the parking garage, a fifty minute ride, I had gained two level in riding the bike, enough so I barely hesitated to take turns. I stored my helmet in my inventory along with my ticket as I walked out of the garage and to the school. On my way, I ran my hand through my hair to get the usual style back from the horror that was helmet hair.

I grabbed my backpack as I rounded the corner to the school and entered the building in a rush as the bell sounded. 'Why can I never walk places?!' I shouted in my head as I dashed through the halls and arrived at the room. "Sorry I'm late," I dully said as I closed the door behind me. Panting from the sudden rush and the lack of sleep, I stumbled to my seat and flopped down in my seat.

I rubbed my eyes and looked around the class when I didn't hear anything. The teacher usually exploded at me when I was late. The class were all staring at me and the teacher was next to the Promethean board, staring at me with a smug look. "It would seem you had an interesting night, Mister Arc."

I furrowed my brow in confusion. "S...ure?" I hesitantly asked him. "It was fine... Nothing too bad happened." I looked around the room trying to figure out where the man was going with this. "Um... I finished my essay too, sorry, I'm a little tired." I bent over and opened my backpack. Pulling out my English folder, I found my essay where I left it.

When I looked back up, I saw a new report video on the board. I glanced at the man, but seeing as the man made us write journals every morning to practice writing, he must have us do something about the news. I shuffled the papers into my hand and walked over to where the turn in bin was. A few of the essays were already in the bin, so I just placed mine on top. "The video is too graphic to show on the air." I heard as I walked back to my seat to watch what the man was showing.

My mind halted the moment my eyes rested on the screen. I saw myself with my pistol in hand, the frozen frame should me with the gun in a two-handed grip as I discharged a round at something at my feet. The blood on my hand told me what I needed to know when this was taken. "The teen, one Jaune Arc, is wanted for questioning for the death of known gang member Libra Letrunch. This is a clear case of self-defense, but it is of utmost importance that all the stories be covered."

"Fuck! Why did you use that picture then you ass!" I cried. "I had shit I needed to do today!" I continued as I packed my stuff to get to the police station. "Now I got to spend my day at a fucking police station," I grumbled under my breath as I shouldered my pack. Once I was ready, I jogged out of the room.

The trip to the station only took half an hour at a dead sprint down the road. Since it was early in the morning, there was very little foot traffic, so I managed to arrive at the place. I made sure everything but my suit was put in my inventory as I walked into the building. The secretary glanced up at me before going back to work.

My footsteps were nearly silent as I approached the front desk. "Hello." The man looked up once more and propped his head on his hand. "Um, my name is Jaune Arc. I heard I was wanted for questioning about that thing last night." The man's head perked up when he heard my name.

The man, a large officer, reached for his radio and clicked in the transmit button. "Hey, that kid, Jaune Arc is here for the questioning. I need someone to escort him to a free room." I watched without much interest as I leaned against the desk.

"So, it would seem the media demonized what I did," I commented to the man. I chuckled out, "I only found out about this because my teacher wanted to isolate me from the class ya know."

"Sounds like my old teacher. Mister Antony was an ass when I was there." I barked out a laughed when I heard that name.

"That's the guy. How has he been teacher for so long?" I asked the officer.

The man shrugged with a grin, "I think I heard him brag that he wrote a few best-selling philosophy books. The school probably feels privileged for having him there."

"That could do it. Hmm..." I hummed to myself as I looked at the television in the corner that was replaying the story of the day, the mass killing of the Vandals. "Wow, what happened there?" I asked, pointing at the screen.

The officer leaned over and saw the T.V. "I can't say much, but it seemed that it was a professional job. Someone leaked that the bullets used were all handmade, so there was no tracing them." I blinked at that.

"You can't trace the rifling?" I questioned the man.

The man pursed his lips and shook his head, "We can, but the gun was apparently unregistered, so we couldn't do anything with it. All this was leaked to the media from somewhere, so people are in an uproar right now."

"Well... It's a tragedy that so many people died, but after last night. Being held at gunpoint by one of their own has taken most of my sympathy for that gang," I admitted as I turned away from the screen. I noticed that I gained three points in acting from when I said that along with a new skill. **Trickery (Passive): **Level 1 – Lie or fast talk your way out of undesirable situations. +2% quality of lie.

The man nodded his head with raised eyebrows, agreeing with me. "Mister Arc?" I heard from nearby. I glanced over and saw an officer that gestured for me to follow. I waved a farewell to the secretary and fell into step by the officer. "This way."

The man took me deep into the building and had me enter a small room. The moment I was inside, the door closed behind me and locked. I checked over my shoulder to see that the officer had not followed me. Seeing as there was no other option than to sit at the table, I did so and reached into my jacket. I acted like I was taking out something when I was really summoning the script out of my inventory to read.

The script was simple with my lines highlighted, so it was easy to find the parts I needed to work on. "There are few who deny that what I do, I am the best. That my talents are known far and wide. When it comes to surprises on the moon lit night, I excel without ever even trying," I spoke aloud to a slight rhythm to keep it in my head and trying to find the proper voice to sing it. This actually netted me a point in singing.

'I need to watch the movie again if I want to do this right,' I whined in my head. 'I don't even have a TV though.' I kept repeating the songs under my breath and my high INT score helped me along with remembering them. It was four hours later when someone finally entered the room to interview me. By this pointed, I had gained three more points, getting me to level nine in singing . I had also gotten a few in acting that put me at level seven and most of the songs memorized to an extent.

The cop that opened the door was wearing a suit like mine, except his didn't have a black dress shirt, it was an egg-shell white. The man's nose was buried in a clipboard as he entered, "Mister Arc?"

"Yes," I replied as I slid my script into my jacket pocket, slightly annoyed that it took so long for someone to come in.

The man slowly shuffled across the room and took a seat across from me. "So, you work at Junior's club," the man observed. I didn't even grace that question with an answer. The man finally looked up from his clipboard and saw my unamused face. "Right... What happened last night."

I rubbed my face as he pulled out a pen to write the story. "Okay, I was just guarding the place like normal. I saw someone suspicious by the bar and noticed he had a firearm. I then saw someone in the dining area that kept making glances at the guy at the bar and saw a shape of a gun in his jacket." The man nodded to have me go on. "I reported this in, because, you know, guns are bad and all."

"Yet you carry a pistol on you at work and know how to use it," the man drawled out lazily. The tone making me bristle due to the subtle accusation.

"Yeah, I use it for self-defense and killing grimm. If you searched my name at all in your investigation, you probably know I'm a Tyro-hunter," I flippantly said. "Anyways, I was told to help stop the guy at the bar, which I did by faking that I wanted a drink. I used the bottle when everyone was ready to bash the guys face in long enough for my partner to take him. I was then told to go through the crowd to see if everything was clear. I'm good at spotting guns on people you see, that's why he told me to do it."

I took a deep breath and continued, "So I haven't seen the video or whatever was taken, so I don't know how much was seen. I was going through the crowd, directing them over to the dining area and all, when I saw they were clear until the gunman I shot came up and put his pistol to my head." I sighed as I finished the story, "That's where it went wrong. The guy was raving mad, wanting to try and kill my boss. He hit me a few times after slapping the gun out of my hand. When he slugged me, I acted hurt so that I could fall on my gun. I hid it in my jacket when he picked me back up. When he started throwing out more threats, I shot in through my jacket two times. I broke his arm over my shoulder so he didn't put a bullet in my ear as I was doing that.

Since he was there to assassinate my boss, I assumed he had more than one weapon that was hidden better, so I put three more into his stomach, threw him down, and finished the deed because the wounds I gave him would have let him live long enough to pull out something like a derringer to shoot me in the back."

The man nodded as he finished writing the story down. "Alright. It is clear that this was self-defense. You will not be brought up on charges since the video backs up what you did. Now onto the next reason why you're here."

"Other reason?" I asked him with confusion. 'What else did I do at the bar that was illegal?'

"Yes, the murder of forty-two Vandals last night. What happened?"

I furrowed my brow at him, "What does that have to do with me?"

"Well you did kill a Vandal at your club, so how are you connected to the obvious retaliation?" The man demanded as he leaned forward.

I leaned back as his coffee breath hit me. "I'm not!" Acting and Trickery level! "Plus that happened at the docks and that's like, sixty miles away! I'm fourteen, I don't even have a car!" I defended myself as it was obvious that a fourteen year old couldn't run sixty miles in four hours. Another trickery.

The man squinted at me. "I never told you that we thought you were the one who did it just that you were connected."

"Well you damn well implied it!" I retorted angrily to the man for the baseless suspicion. "I came here to clear my name of the self-defense thing, not get accused for killing some gang bangers across the city."

"Look, we both know you are part of the Axe gang. Tell us what Junior did and you are free."

I stared at him with raised eyebrows, "Axe Gang? What the hell are you talking about, I'm no gangster. I just work at the club as a guard for Junior when he was nice enough to help me get a job after I left my parent's house! You're starting to piss me off with all these stupid questions!" It wasn't really a lie, but I was sort of a contractor for the Axe Gang now. The lie was just enough to get me another point in acting and two more in trickery too. I guessed the high-risk lies netted me more because they are a threat against my life if I failed.

"Oh and why did he let some random kid off the street guard his establishment?" The man asked, leaning back in his seat with a smug face.

"Because I'm a Luka guard! I know how to defend shit!" I yelled at him, getting truly pissed about all these questions that the man thinks he could catch me in. Before, I was only annoyed about the implication of the massacre, but now that he was questioning my skill, I was getting mad.

"So you're saying you are trained?" The man smugly commented.

I knew where this was going, he would say someone trained could have only pulled off the massacre. "Yeah, I'm trained to stand on a wall and defend from grimm and bandits. I'm REALLY good at spotting movement and weapons, not much more due to my still developing muscles. The perfect skill set for a GUARD! I'm not trained to kill forty people in a gunfight, alone."

The questioning lasted for another hour before I was dropped off the list of people who did it. That only happened because I was lying my ass off through the whole thing and my trickery skill kept going up due to the high risk of failure. It was with an annoyed mood that I left the station and walked back to school. It was near the end of the day that I finally entered the doors once more, so I just walked down to where the drama room was and waited by the door for class to let out. There was only five minutes left of school anyways.

The bell rang and the students all streamed out of the room, most didn't even notice me leaning against the door in their rush to get out of the building. Once everyone was gone, I walked into the room and saw Miss Garza organizing some papers to the side. The teacher didn't hear me enter and I wasn't too inclined to reveal my presence, so I picked a seat near the corner to the side and pulled out my script to go over one more time to remember the first act's lines.

I heard the teacher walk to her office, so I just continued to read in the shadows, my bullet clamped in my teeth as I chewed on the pocketed metal. 'I don't believe what's happening to me... My hopes, my dreams, my fantasssiiieeess, ehehe! Man that laugh will take some work to get down.' I flipped the page silently as the last person came in and the teacher stepped up on the stage.

The woman clapped her hands, "Alright, Jaune might not make it today because of that fasco last night, but nobody think bad of him! It was self-defense through and through, I will not have anyone here think anything bad of one of our own!"

Everyone gave a mumble of agreement as they nodded to the teacher. I felt touched that they were like that even with only knowing me for the past day and that was with a few minutes of interaction. "Umm... I'm here today miss," I quietly called out from my corner with my papers in hand.

The crew jumped at the sound of my voice and all twisted around to see me waving hesitantly in my seat, a sheepish look on my face, a bullet between my lips. "Oh good, I would have thought you wouldn't have come today because of the whole incident. Well, come come, we have much work to do!"

I hopped out of my seat and tossed my jacket over the back so I didn't get too hot during practice. As it draped, I saw that there were two large holes in the back from where I shot through the fabric. "I really need to learn how to sew," I muttered to myself as I walked over to the crew, sliding the bullet into my front pocket. "So, I was able to read the play and memorize some of the songs," I informed them as I approached. "Haven't seen the play in a while nor had time to actually look up the songs on the internet either."

The teacher nodded. "Good, good. Alright, We are going to practice the opening scene. Positions! Jaune, put this on and get on that cart behind the everyone. Kevin, you know what to do." I am handed a large foam pumpkin-shaped helmet. I slowly put it on and checked around for how much I could see. It wasn't too bad, but it did cut out my peripheral vision.

I made sure to listen to the instructions, "After, 'jump out of your skin,' you will be handed a torch. On set, you will be covered in a benign dust mixture that will set you on fire. The dust will protect you from any heat and the costume for the scene is made with flame-retardant material. Do a few kicks around, a few spins like a ballerina, which we will work on while others are practicing, and flip or jump into the box. On stage, this will lead to a hole in the stage where a platform will be ready to bring you back up. Just discard your clothing and pumpkin head and let it take you back to the stage. As it is now, just land in the box and we will practice the pyrotechnics a few days before the show."

'I'm going to be lit on fire. Joy oh joy.' I knew that I could do the kicks and flips because of my training in gymnastics before. While the bonuses were gone, I still knew how to do cartwheels and the like.

The song started and the cart jerked as Kevin started pulling it along. The crew started singing as they marched slowly I heard the queue and someone tossed me a stick, "Mime eating and toss!" I heard Garza call. I did as such and tossed the stick to the side. "Kick high and spin to left, repeat opposite!" I did so. "Great!" The song was winding down and we were passing the box. "Jump!"

I crouched deep and forced myself into the air, aiming for the box as I did a simple double front flip and landed in a tight crouch within the box. I stood up awkwardly as the song finished and everyone clapped. "Nicely done Jaune! Where did you learn to dance and flip like that?!" Ashley called as I stepped out of the box.

My hands were wringing themselves as I looked around at everyone's faces. "I... Um... I have three sisters that really like to dance that all needed a partner... And I learned the flips for combat." I saw a message and it opened in the corner as I spoke, "**Dancing (Passive):** Level 10 – Move body in a pleasing display. +20% coordination." I guessed previous experience was factored in since I was rather good at dancing.

The group took me through more of the parts to help me get comfortable with my role, but I was still awkwardly reciting the words even if I didn't really need to have the script in my hand.

It turned to three fifteen as we ended Sally's Song. I was taken aside for that and instructed in the movement of Jack which was erratic while smooth along with many exaggerated movements.

Once the time was up, I grabbed my jacket and threw it on while making sure my tie was in place. It was a only an hour to make it to Junior's so I had two more to kill. I could finally take a shower or exercise! With this in mind, I went to my bike and drove off to my pond to bath.

'I drive a nice bike, wear suits, and have a great paying job. Why the hell am I still bathing in the middle for a forest?' I asked myself. 'I really should step up on my plans to rent a place. I guess I could go now, I have time...'

Once I was clean and in a fresh suit, I had two hours remaining to get to Junior's so I pulled up an apartment building that I was thinking of renting a space from. Just needed to make an appointment for tomorrow to meet the man and check out everything. It was only seven hundred a month with all utilities. It was in an okay neighborhood too, so I wouldn't have to worry about getting my stuff stolen, not that I'd keep valuables not in my inventory, but it would be nice to drop off my reloading bench.

I pulled into a free parking space in front of the building and entered the place. I found the landlord office and knocked on the door. "Come in," I heard through the door. The knob twisted smoothly and I walked into the room to see a simple office with a man behind a desk. "How can I help you?"

I gave him a smile as I tried to put a confident front on, "Hello. Um... I was wondering if I could set up an appointment to tour some of the apartments here? I'm thinking of renting a place."

The man looked at me skeptically. "Do you even have a job son?"

The man's tone pissed me off, but I didn't let that show on my face. "Two, I'm a Tyro-hunter and guard."

The man looked me up and down before nodding. "I'm free now, so if you have time, we can do this right now."

"Cool, but um. I only have about an hour and a half for this, so if it's going to take longer, I'd rather just make an appointment."

The man shook his head as he got up from his seat, "Nonsense, we only have one apartment vacant, so it should be fast."

The room he took me to was nice. I started analyzing the walls and floor to find how sound they are. The report back told me they were just simple flooring and walls that did their job fine. The ceiling was the same. The man told me that the apartment came with all utilities paid for with the rent, all that I had to do was pay on time and provide my own furniture. The man gave me a checklist and we quickly went through them so that if I did rent this apartment, I wouldn't be responsible for any previous damages. I used my limited knowledge of basic crafts to know what was what and how good of a quality things were with my analysis. "Alright, this place is pretty nice. Any issues with break-ins?"

The man puffed out his chest as he informed me, "Haven't had one in five years and we caught the guy that did it that time around."

I nodded, "Okay, so the price is seven hundred a month, paid by card, check, or cash." The man nodded along with what I was clearing up. "Due the first of the month and can be set to auto-pay every month. What's the parking?" I questioned him after my bike came to mind.

"Every tenet gets one space. Anymore and they need to pay another fifty lien for the spot," the man mindlessly listed off.

"Alright, this place looks like someplace I would like to stay for a while. Hmm, got the paperwork for a lease?"

The man clapped his hands as he told me to follow him back to his office. I made my way down and the man pulled out a small stack of papers. We spent the next half an hour going over the paperwork where I signed where I needed to, clarified some questions that I had, and had written agreement that the landlord would not touch any of my sensitive equipment for the safety of everyone involved. My reloading bench could take a bullet, but if the man touched my primers, my gun would misfire when I put them in bullets.

I signed the last section and the man handed me a key to my new apartment for the next year. Tomorrow, I would be going out to grab a debit card for my account as well as dump half my money I'd gotten from the job into the account so I had money that I could use the card for.

My bike softly shut down as I popped the key out of the slot in the bike. My helmet went back into the inventory. I swiped my hair back as I entered the club to find that there was only a few people actually on the dance floor where there use to be dozens.

The shooting must have shook many people up. I wonder how long this lull would last? I found my way to the bar where Junior was sitting. I took a seat next to him and ordered a beer. "So... I'm sorry about the whole, killing a guy on the dance floor thing, last night."

The man glanced over as he sipped a whiskey. Junior turned in his seat to look over the dance floor with the alcohol in hand. "They'll be back. This wasn't the first time a man had died publicly in this joint nor will it be the last. It'll only take a few days before the young want to rebel by going to the dangerous club." Sounded about right. "How's the bike treating you?"

I answer the man honestly. "Great, still paranoid about being pulled over and all, but the ride is smooth. Nice not having to run everywhere." I started to wring my hands before asking the man, "Why did you have a bike ready to give away?"

"I was going to send you on a mission tomorrow to go spy on a competitor of mine in the shipping business, one Albert Shoe. I had suspicions that he was betraying my trust, but with the documents you brought back, you did the job without having to spy on anyone."

I ahhed into my drink when I heard the reason I got the bike. "Did the police try to set you on the massacre charges?" I gave him a look before going back to drinking my beer. "Figures. You're young though and those are all gang bangers, no one will look hard into their deaths."


	10. Chapter 10

**I've recently had this compared to a slice of life in the RWBY world... I gotta say, I see it. not that i think its bad, I actually enjoy those stories and writing this was fun as hell. Sorry for no updates, I was graduating High School finally. Grad practice sucked many a dicks I must say. also, I crossed this over with FC4 as I was writting this as I was big on the game, so there will be a far cry arc in this story somewhere. though it will not be just a rehash of the story, but that is for later. So without rambling anymore, this is chapter 10 of Gamer's Arc, hazza**

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Chapter 10

The rest of my shift was uneventful after that talk with Junior. I just watched the small amount of people dance around the floor in their lewd fashion and chew on my bullet. At two, I hopped on my bike and rode to my new apartment twenty minutes away, at the midpoint from work and school. I walked up the stairs and found my room, apartment 311. The place was bare except for the essentials, so I set down my reloading bench in the bedroom, which had a wooden floor. Making sure it didn't scratch the wood, I placed some ripped up of the clothes I outgrew on the floor under the legs.

At two thirty, I crashed on the carpet in the living room, using my usual bed set up for the night. Snorting awake, I pulled on the looted sunglasses I took off the dead vandal, my red ones are for work, I saw the time was eight thirty. It was going to take half an hour to reach school though. I had a full night's rest and missed English. All and all, today seemed like it was going to be a good day.

I left my stuff on the ground and showered with hot water for the first time in ages. After cleaning my hair, I stepped out, not wanting to be late for my history class, I quickly threw on my plated vest and hoodie, since I wasn't going to wear my suit to school today. My jeans found themselves on my legs and my boots were the last thing I had on me.

I locked the door behind me and replaced my sunglasses on my face with my helmet as I exited the building to hop on my bike.

The trip to school was relaxing and I even got another level in my driving as I pulled into the garage. It was only nine lien for a day of parking, which while expensive, gave me the peace of mind that no two-bit thug was going to try and steal my bike.

The school bell went off as I reached History, so I just walked in and sat at my desk as everyone settled down for the lesson. As the man taught, I made a note in my mind to set my scroll to go off at seven as I really wanted to pass English so I didn't have that man again as a teacher.

Class passed without fanfare. Everyone was too nervous to talk to me, so I had spent most of my time reading the textbook after doing my work. The next class was the same and the last class followed suit.

The hour in practice was spent with me getting the lyrics for Poor Jack down. So far I had gotten four levels in singing, but I couldn't get one of the lines down. "No, no, no! More regret, more glee! That laugh is too kindhearted for the king of Halloween! Practice with me, 'I am the pumpkin king! hahaha." The woman gave a deep laugh that had a hint of malice in.

I imitated it as I sang the line once more, "_I, JACK, the pumpkin king. That's right, I am the pumpkin king, Ahahaha. _How was that?" I asked

"There you go! I knew you could do it, now let's start from the top!" I sang the song once more, trying to get the emotions right down to memory, so that when I had to move around, I could keep the emotions with the words. "That's it! Now, keep practicing, I have to help Danny with being Oogie-boogie." I nodded and checked the time. I had thirty minutes left, so I kept with the singing and gained another two levels, setting me at fifteen. After I felt I had the song down enough for the day, I switched to trying out Jack's Lament.

The days passed quickly and all too soon, it was time to perform. With me having a place to call my own and a ride that allowed me to actually use it, I could finally train like I had been missing. After practice, I would use two hours of my free time to work out. I stuck with endurance for my VIT, but threw in some cardio weight lifting with my smaller boulders for STR. In the two weeks, I had gained four points in STR and two more in VIT which was due to my insane amount of work. I didn't take a break no matter how much I hurt while working out.

My DEX and WIS didn't move as I didn't do anything note worthy like add something to slow my movement or plan anything extensively. I did gain three in INT because of diligently studying my play for hours during free time at school.

The curtains were closed with the narrator giving the opening. I was decked out in my costume for the opening number that had barely noticeable particles of Dust on it that would soon engulf me in fire. I was nervous, partly due to the fire, mostly because of the anxiety that I'd do bad and some due to not thinking my stats were enough to give a good show.

**Acting (Passive):** Level 28 – Put on a convincing role that is not your own. +56% quality of acting

**Singing (Passive):** Level 32 – Shift your voice to make music. +64% quality of sound

**Dancing (Passive):** Level 20 – Move body in a pleasing display. +40% coordination

Sure the numbers were big, but the base, except for dance, sucked, so they were just adding onto a bad performer to make an average one. I might suck terrible, but I didn't want to bring anyone down with me! I was still the disgrace I was when I turned thirteen, but I didn't have people relying on me back then. Now that I did, it was stressing me out!

The music began and I quickly jumped onto the wooden horse that was being pulled. The song went off without a hitch and when my part came, I was able to hold in my panic as my body burst into flames long enough to do the elaborate spinning dance on the horse and dismount inside the well.

I tossed off my gear as the platform raised back up to the stage and revealed me in the striped suit with the ghostly white makeup covering my face along with the charcoal for the eyes and mouth.

Everyone around me was cackling after the number ended and celebrating while I had to give a slight stage bow to the 'monsters.' I almost broke character when Kevin chest bump Bobby hard enough that the round boy almost fell on his ass.

I slowly walked off the stage as people praised my character for the deed to allow room for Ashley's part with the doctor. Once they had done their scene and Percy dragged off Ashley in his wheelchair, I backwards walked into the stage with the people still praising the character. The mayor, or Jonathan, followed with a bullhorn painted black. On the queue, he started talking and Jack was able to sneak off by the band members.

This was a problem for me in practice. The moment I heard 'Bone Daddy,' I would always chuckle, so when I was able to keep my part along with the tired emotion, I was ecstatic. The backdrop changed as I walked into the iconic curvy hill. I took a deep breath and began my number. There wasn't much dancing to be done, but I had to get the abrupt motions and ethereal walk down while doing the song.

Act one was soon over as the three little trick-or-treaters nabbed Santa and took him to the lair. In the down time, I helped the stage crew set up the slide that I would be riding across the stage that was suspended by wires.

The play continued on without a hitch for the second act and after two hours, the event came to a close with me giving Ashley a small kiss as the curtains closed. I would have blushed up a storm, but my Gamer's Mind cut that off before it could take root, leaving me with just a dusting on my tan face. As the narrator finished his ending, my eyes cascaded with messages as everyone cheered. "**First performance completed flawlessly! +1000 bonus experience**" "**Acting level up. Acting level up. Acting level up. Acting level up**" "**Singing level up. Singing level up. Singing level up.**" "**Dancing level up. Dancing level up.**"

I grinned at the messages as I dismissed them. As the last one fell, I took a seat on the corner and drank a bottle of water. Just three more like that and I should be done with acting for the next while. I would still train them as they had many hours already put in them and all, but I wouldn't be doing another play anytime soon. Plus I had to take off work for Monday and today to get the shows in and I really needed the money to keep my apartment.

I saw Ashley coming over, "Great show Jaune! You really pulled off Jack!" I gave her a sheepish smile as I grabbed a nearby water for her as well.

"Thanks. I tried my best. Still, I could have done better with the What's This number. I thought it fell a bit flat," I said, frowning at the little mistakes I did. Ashley just laughed and patted me on the shoulder.

I sighed and got to my feet. Might as well head home. Washing off the makeup was a bit hard, but I managed easily enough. Better than some of the actors, like the vampires who had a whole set up they had to take off. Once in my casual wear, my jeans and Luka hoodie, I was off to grab my bike.

Traffic was bad, but I was able to get home before the nine. The rest of the plays followed suit like the first, if not netting me as many points due to repeating it.

The semester ended anti-climatically. The only thing that interested me was that I finally Maxed a skill. My scavenge arrived at level ten as I was picking some berries while exercising and that was the finally level. It dumped a bit more knowledge on what was safe to eat and such before it settled down. Another notable thing was getting my Wisdom to forty-four due to planing out multiple exercise routines for my down time. I believed I got so many levels because I read a few books on proper muscle building instead of just winging it.

With some of my free time, I skipped work out days and ran out to small towns nearby that needed a little help. I finished about nine more F classes, so I only needed fourteen more before I could test for an E class license.

I was thankfully able to pass my English course with a low D, so I was happy about that. The rest of my classes were straight As, but the D made it so I wasn't on honor roll. I didn't much care, but it was a bit disheartening to have my hard work spit on like that.

I gained a construction branch of skills from reading the do it yourself shelf at the school.

**Machinist (Passive): **Level 1 - Ability to use machines to mold objects into workable shapes. +2% speed and quality of work.

**Automotive Mechanic (Passive)**: Level 1 - Ability to work on vehicles. +5% speed and quality of work on vehicles.

**Industrial Mechanic (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to work on equipment and heavy machinery. +2% speed and quality of work.

**Plumbing (Passive):** Level 1 - Ability to fix up the plumbing utilities

**Electronics (Passive):** Level 1 - The ability to work with electronic or electrical equipment. +2% speed at working with electronics

**Construction (Passive): **Level 1 **\- **Ability to build structures. +1% build speed

I didn't practice anything because I really didn't care to at the moment. My bike was still going smoothly and I had no attention to mess that up. I figured I could go to a junkyard one day and buy a junk car that no longer worked. Fix it up to level the skills and get a working car for cheap in the process.

I woke with a start on the first day of my next fourteen days off school. With a grin on my face, I got ready for the day of improving myself. I pulled out my scroll and searched the words, home-made forge. I was finally going to start working on weapon smithing, but I'd start with dumb things like hooks and the like before I moved to daggers, then to swords.

I gained the list of ingredients. I was going for a coal fire one mainly due to cost reasons. Fire dust, while a better product because of constant heat, was expensive to upkeep for a hobby. The first thing I needed was a large amount of fire bricks, steel grate, and an air supply. The fire bricks would be a problem as that was around four hundred pounds of material and I could only carry two-sixty, but the rest was simple to grab. I would get a hand powered fan, like they use to use back before gunpowder, so I didn't have to be near an electrical source. Since I would be doing this in the woods, near my clearing, I didn't have the option to plug the thing in.

As I bought the stuff from a hardware store, the man gave me a strange look when I didn't need help with the two hundred and fifty pounds of bricks, I drove to my clearing to dump the bricks and went back to another store to grab the rest of what I needed plus scrap metal from the junkyard. It was a fairly simple process that cost me two hundred lien. The last thing I did before I forged it all was grab a two hundred pound chunk of railroad track for the junkyard for about twenty lien, I needed an anvil and why not use a railroad track?

I built the forge up quickly as it was a simple set up. Once I lit the fire in the forge and using what little know how, got the heat going, I was soon forging away at nails and small knick knacks after realizing I didn't have the skill to smoothly bend metal at the moment. That would come in time, but not today.

By the fifth nail, I had gained a level in forging and I found that my next small ironwork turned out a bit better, but I was also getting the hits' strength down, so I didn't hit too hard or too light.

As I hammered at the heated metal in a disposable long sleeved shirt, I found that I slowly gained VIT and STR over time. By the seven hour mark, I was sweating, tired, and sore, but I had one more in my VIT and two in STR from constantly swinging my hammer at the metal. My forging grew to level four, so I had a boost of eight percent in all my work.

I planned to hold off until level ten, so I could craft a dagger that wasn't shit. It wouldn't help me by going into this half-assed. "**Ding, WIS up!**" I cleaned up in the pond after I hide the anvil in the brush. The forge was five hundred pounds, no one was going to take that, but the anvil could be grabbed. Once I was clean, I pulled on one of my custom suits from my inventory and got on my bike.

I was sore, but that didn't hinder my driving in the least, I even netted another point, rounding me up to twelve. The night in the club was once more uneventful as I stood vigilant to the side, insighting people to level up my skill, no longer analyzing them as it didn't benefit me to do so anymore when I could find the intent of people.

My winter break went by fast. I mostly just forged the entire time, but I never did get around to level ten, so the most I did was make an axe head to practice thick blade work. In the end, it turned out pretty well. The fire of the forge did a good job in keeping me warm too, to the point I just stopped wearing a shirt while forging, opting for gloves only. This had netted me, **Fire Endurance (Passive):** Level 1 – ability to endure the heat of fire. -2% fire damage. Which I had gotten to level four over time so the forge fire barely singed my skin. That said nothing for my emerging body hair, but I didn't really care if a some of the little amount of chest hair I had poofed into flame.

The only break I got was doing the last fourteen jobs I needed to reach fifty and spending Christmas with my mom and sisters.

One Christmas, I rode up to the house and pulled into the driveway with my night rod. I just had turned off the bike as I saw my sisters, still in their pajamas peek out of the house to who brought the bike. I pulled my helmet off as I dismounted the ride and my sisters all ran to tackle me. This was the first time I've driven my bike there, I had usually left it back at my apartment or training ground so I could have a nice run to cool off after practice.

I sidestepped away from my bike as the little to be hunters-in-training flying take-down me to the asphalt. I could have stopped it, but my body was a hard thing to hit when I was unyielding, people in the crew back at school would complain that I had too much muscles when I helped set the stage and people ran into me carrying things.

Without waiting for me to get to my feet, the girls dragged me by the arms into the house. Thankfully the trio picked up my torso doing so, so my Luka hoodie didn't get to dirty. Inside, I was greeted by a slightly welcoming and a slightly annoying sight. My mom was sitting by the tree, but Thomas was there too, sitting in his arm chair in front of the TV.

When the girls dropped me to run for the tree, I spun to my feet while summoning my gifts for my family from behind my back.

I had gotten my sisters small practice blades that could channel dust to work on dust spells along with a few vials of different kinds of dust. Being the older brother, I couldn't condone my sweet, evil, little sisters whacking things with a blade like I do. I gave my mother a cleaning kit for her twin daggers since she kept complaining about her old one getting useless.

I set my helmet down on the table as I fixed my hair with an absent swipe. I slide my presents under the tree before flopping down next to my mother on the couch. She gave me a hug and kept glancing at my helmet. I answered the unspoken question, "My boss tasked me with a little extra job for his business and since I performed with flying colors as well as went beyond the specs of the job to the point where I uncovered some betrayals on his partners' parts, he awarded me a motorcycle so I didn't have to run everywhere."

Mom made the obvious observation when I said this, "He knows you're fourteen right? It is illegal for you to drive." The tone was not disappointment, but confirmation that he knew my age.

I shook my head with a grin, "Junior doesn't care too much what is legal for my age. I'm just one of his employees, one that can do extra jobs due to his training. The man runs a gang on the side of his business empire, so he more follows the law as a guide than anything."

My mother frowned at this, but the squeal from the three girls distracted her. My little sisters seemed to like my gift of practice weaponry for them if the noise and another set of flying tackles were to go by. Before they started playing with them, I sternly told them, "Now, don't go using these without mom there to help you. While the dust I gave you is mostly harmless, it could still be dangerous if you willy-nilly flung it around." The girls all nodded at this and opened the rest of their presents.

I didn't get anything, but I was fine with that, it was nice to just spend time with mom and the evil ones. As we were relaxing after the dinner mom made, Thomas opened his mouth to my annoyance, "So, boy, what is this that you killed someone last month?" The smug look on his face made me want to erase it with a bullet.

I growled as my mother gasped and my sisters stared at me. "Assassin from a gang wanted to kill my boss and I happened to find him, so he took his anger out on me for ruining things. He hit me a few times and I shot him. End of story." The man didn't lose his smug look though. If anything, it got bigger.

With a snort, he said, "Looks like the little maid can't take care of himself on his own. A few months away and you've already killed a human. Not even I have done that and I've been in the business for three decades." My fists clenched in rage at the man's words, but I didn't raise to his bait.

"I'm not just a hunter though. You are. You kill grimms, I stop people from messing with business," I told the man through clenched teeth. With a hard exhale, I continue, "Now... if you'll excuse me, I must go train for next week, I have a test for my E class licenses."

I pushed myself to my feet and gave mom a hug before I was mobbed by my sisters for their good bye. "I'll cya next weekend guys." Once my farewells were said, I grabbed my helmet, pulling it over my face as I exited the house to do just as I said I would.

Once back in my clearing, I pulled out my neglected blade and did a few warm-ups with her before I really started working on my sword work. By nightfall, I managed to get two more levels in the skill thanks to the nine hours I stuck with it. Now at level thirty-four with a boost of one hundred and seventy percent to my sword work, I felt slightly better with my swordsmanship even if it was no where near Bic's skill level. That man could still pick me apart with ease.

Back at my apartment, I slept on my mattress which I didn't bother with a bed frame, so it was on the floor. Before I fell asleep, a blue window popped up in front of my face. A quest window that I accepted instantly. The amount of experience will help me because I finally figured out the rate of experience I needed, it was my level times one thousand and one hundred, so I needed twenty-six thousand and four hundred to reach the next level, but I only had thirty percent in so far.

**Become an E-Rank Tyro-Hunter**

**Reward: 10000**

**Failure: Do not become E-Rank. Cool down is a week's time**

The next day found me at the hunter's office once more. I walked over to the person on duty today, a young blonde that looked bored. "Hello, I would like to schedule a test for my E class license."

The woman sighed out, "ID sir." I fished out my hunter's licenses and handed it over. The woman inserted it into her computer. With a few deft types, the woman glanced over the screen with her cheek resting on her hand. "Hmm... Okay Mister Arc, you seem to have the right number of F ranked jobs done. Why do you have a C on here?" The woman gave me a lazily raised eyebrow.

"I hunted the wrong group of beowolves near a town on a job. They were significantly tougher and dangerous, so the mayor recommended a high rank. Soo... When can I get a time?"

The woman went back to her computer and rapidly tapped on the screen to open pages. "Um... Come by at... one this afternoon for a test. It's just going over the usual, 'are you ready for E class?' stuff." I nodded and she handed my card back to me. With the plan in place, I decided to go grab a bite to eat at the grimm meat seller. I choice some more Boarbatusk meat since I liked the peppery aftertaste and basically killed time driving around for the morning, since I didn't want to tire myself out before my test.

One rolled around and I was directed to a room near the back. I was the only one there, so I was immediately let through to the testing area. In the room, I saw a familiar face. 'Well, I'm not getting out of here without a little blood.'

The man, Chris, I thought his name was, looked up and gave me a grin, "Ah, you're that kid that headbutted me. Hmm, so you are here for you're..." The man checked his scroll, "E class. Well, you've set a standard you have to pass, so..." The man gave a sadistic grin as he twisted a small clock, "You know the rules, begin."

This time, the man didn't stay on the defensive. I had to duck a hard left hook and roll out of the way from a sweeping kick that would have taken me down. I was back on my feet in an instant and had my pistol in hand along with my sword. I fired off three rounds at the man as I lunged with the blade, but he easily dodged the close ranged shots and parried the blade aside with the palm of his hand on the flat.

Seeing my blade fall to his right, I struck out with my foot while turning my body to the side to put more power behind it. The hunter easily twirled around it and delivered a crushing hit to my hip that sent me rolling across the room. Since I didn't have my glasses on, I didn't know how much health that took, but from the pain, I estimated a good fourth.

I didn't allow myself to stay down for more than half a second before I was charging back at the man, firing the rest of my seven round magazine at the man.

I reached the whirling man as my slide locked back, so I started a barrage with my blade and threw in some backhands with my pistol to change up the pattern, trying to get a glancing blow on him while keeping him from attacking me again. I mentally casted analyze on the hunter and got the reply of;

**[Hunter Test Giver]**

**Chris Mentez**

**Level ?**

**?/?**

**?/?**

**STR: ? + 30%**

**VIT: ? + 30%**

**DEX: ? + 30%**

**INT: ? + 30%**

**WIS: ? + 30%**

**LUK: ? + 30%**

I tried not to pause in my assault as I digested the information, that this guy was on the level of people like my mother. "You've gotten faster boy!" The man cried as he jabbed me in the nose through my flurry of offense, splitting the bridge and caused blood to start flooding out of my nostrils. "Not fast enough though!"

I had to get distance between us, 'I should have worked more on my speed!

I gave another hasty swing to create some distance between us, but the man just caught my blade. The moment I felt the metal stop, I lashed out by hopping up and slamming both legs out. The man bent backwards, so I fell onto my back as he ripped my sword out of my hands. The moment I hit the ground, I forced my body to spin, as if I was starting to break dance, and threw out a few wide kicks as I used my arms to toss my body back onto my feet.

I tucked my pistol back in my holster as I once more charged the man and started throwing out a flurry of punches and kicks to try to hit the man, but all he did was redirect the hits with ease. The man caught my leg as I gave a roundhouse to his ear. I paused at the sudden change in action, but the clock started to ring, so I dropped my weight from my lower leg and let my unheld foot slam into the man's shin.

The hunter didn't react more than tossing my leg away, so that I had to do a one-handed cartwheel to get back to my feet. "Dammit," I sighed as I pinched my nose to try and stop the blood flowing out of my nostrils, the bridge was a lost cause, but I could stop the nosebleed. My eyes flashed with a message that my Physical endurance went up by one, so that was a slight bonus.

I saw the man pick up my longsword and look it over, "Are you using this to kill grimm?" The man asked as he gave it a spin around his side, testing the balance.

I gave a confirmation that sounded silly since I was looking up, holding my nose shut, "Yeah, I've kept her maintained to the best of my abilities."

"This is not a weapon a hunter should use," the man said before tossing me the blade. I easily caught it by the hilt and bleed off the momentum with a spin of my wrist. "Grimm hide is too thick for a normal soldier blade to cut. That will service for things up to a lesser beowolf, but even that fight would be iffy. A minor boarbatusk, hell a lesser beowolf? That blade wouldn't do more than give it a bad paper cut unless you used it like a hammer."

I nodded at these words, "I was thinking the same thing too. I just haven't gotten around to grab a better blade yet. Any suggestions that would help me become a E-Rank hunter after more training?"

The man looked me over as he scratched his chin, "Hmm... You could use more hand to hand combat. While you can hit hard and fast compared to a soldier, you need more power behind your punches if you lose a weapon. Your blade work is impressive, but compared to full fledged hunters, even normal E class hunters, you are weak." I would have been disappointed at his blatant words, but I always knew I didn't hold a candle to any hunters, I was just a kid swinging a sword. "I see no formal training in what you do, but that could work in your favor as it is unpredictable, but study some styles to incorporate so that you can switch attack patterns, same with hand to hand. It'll confuse grimm if you suddenly start going on aggressive defense. Other than that, work harder and just get better. I hope to see you in a week's time for your retry."

I gave him a curt nod as I spun on my heels and I sheathed my blade. My nose had stopped bleeding, so I didn't need to hold it anymore. I quickly walked out of the room to start upping my training. I needed more speed first of all, then I could work on my power. To work on my speed, I needed to head to the bookstore to buy some training manuals for something quick, boxing for my punches and a martial art for kicking. This would also follow the man's instructions for styles too.

I parked outside the bookstore and drew out my wallet with a hundred lien in it. Using my bike's mirror, I wiped the rest of the blood off my face and walked into the store. I made a beeline to the do-it-yourself section which I knew from past visits held combat books. I checked through the selection and found the boxing book along with another style that looked promising. Muay Thai, while not focused on leg work, more balancing, looked perfect in the brutal hits to compliment human combat.

I bought the texts and quickly drove over to the clearing to practice them. My bike was parked in the shade of the trees. I was lucky this part of the forest wasn't blocked off or it would be annoying to get here. I found that the constant patrols along the highway to my left a few miles away, kept the grimm limited to a pack of beowolves every fifty square miles. The first book I cracked open was the booking beginning manual. I quickly read through it and found that it had pictures that took the reader through the steps of every move which would be perfect in helping me learn it.

Once I finished the relatively short text, I stored it away as I pulled off my sweatshirt for the oncoming exercise. I took the basic stance in the book and slowly made it work for me using the image in my head. I did consult the book once more to make sure I had things right so I wasn't teaching myself bad habits.

I gave a slow punch to get the movement down and made sure to step into the punch to add more force behind it like the book told me. After the twentieth punch, the window I was waiting for showed up.

**Boxing (Passive):** Level 1 – Ability to fight as a Boxer. +2% speed of punches, +2% damage with punches, +2% better footwork.

I couldn't keep in the smile as I went back to teaching myself the basic stances for defense, offense, and the proper positioning for footwork, because I found that was what I needed most. I could throw a punch, but my legs were mostly just moving enough to keep me upright or dodging, they weren't really helping my power or anything.

In three hours, I was covered in sweat, my body steaming from the heat radiating off my skin in the late December weather. Even though it was cold as hell and I was half-naked, I couldn't stop grinning as I continued punching the tree in front of me to get the right motions down. My hands were bleeding, but I didn't really mind, they would be fine for tomorrow and I knew how to splint a broken finger in case I did manage to hurt my hands again so that I could continue training.

My boxing skill steadily rose up to the fifth level by the time I dropped to the frozen dirt. My hand to hand rose by two as well, but I found the boxing more of an accomplishment because I just learned it. My VIT rose with hand to hand, turning it to ninety and netted me the max in my affiliation which gave me the boost of one hundred percent more stamina and one hundred percent more stamina regen. It was slow going, nine months of work, so I felt that I earned that MAX skill.

After a few minutes of feeling the burn, I checked the time to see that I had another two hours until I needed to head over to Junior's for work, so I stayed on my back and opened up my Muay Thai book. I read the basics of the style in the store, but the history was interesting in itself. It was created in eastern Mantle in an old country named Thailand, the small island off the coast of the continent. Was used for warfare, but under a king, it turned into a sport in the time of peace he brought. There was a small section on the bottom, quoting the king on the sport, but it was in a foreign languag-... "**Skills gained!**"

**Linguistics (Passive):** Level 1 - Allows the user to learn languages faster. +10% faster learning speed with languages

**Thai (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to speak, understand and read Thai. +1% fluidity in Thai.

'Alright... This could be useful for when I learn Greek this year.' I dismissed the windows and went back to reading about the stances and how they fight. The exercise regiment looked brutal and I couldn't wait until I could start. That would be tomorrow however as by the time I got my skill in Muay Thai, I had only thirty minutes to get to Juniors. Muay Thai was promising though, "**Muay Thai (Passive): **Level 1 – Combat Sport that uses stand-up striking with various clinching techniques. +2% more striking power, +2% better grappling, +2% speed of strikes."

My time at Junior's was fine, no one messed with anyone during the time we were open. I killed time by chewing on my bullet and writing out a training regiment for my combative skills for the next month.

I wrote it out on a sheet of paper. I would warm up with a ten mile sprint to work my free-running. Skip some rope to get my footwork improved and use to the extra bounce I needed to fight. Shadow box for a few rounds, two for boxing only, two for Muay Thai, and two finding out how to combine the two into a fluid style. Each round being five minutes. Work the moves on a tree to get use to hitting solid targets for grimms are not going to move when I hit them. Weight lift for increase in power, ten sets of ten squats, bench press, and military presses with boulders. Since I didn't have a partner to practice my grappling and clinches on, I would just practice the motions, but I wouldn't be able to go to far into that field without doing live practice. Lastly, I would do some stretches to loosen my muscles and get more flexible as I'd noticed that I even with all my training, I wasn't able to do more than a head high kick. I wanted to be able to do a split by the time school let out for the summer.

So my workout was;

-Ten mile sprint

-Skip heavy rope for ten minutes

-Seven, five minute rounds of shadow boxing

-Seven, five minute rounds of Muay Thai shadow boxing

-Six, five minute rounds of combining styles in shadow boxing

-Ten sets of ten Bench Press, ten sets of ten squats, Ten sets of ten Military press

-Clinches for ten minutes

-Sword work for thirty

-Stretches for five

My plan in place, I could wait for tomorrow to start! I even gained three WIS for my planning, using my research material effectively, and balancing my training! I dropped two more into my WIS to get the affiliation with it, so I could possibly train that up along side everything. "**Wisdom Affiliation** **(Passive)**: Level 1 (10) - -5% of mana usage." I could barely keep the stoic look that was expected of the employees of the club.

I panted out in exhaustion as I finished the ninetieth rep of my weight training, metal music blaring in my ears, "Why did I want to do this?!" The rock slammed into the ground with a resounding thud behind me as I staggered to my feet. I found that training clinches was rather bland without a partner and mostly pointless, so it was with a heavy heart that I pushed through it and memorized the proper positioning to start a clinch. I finished up there and started on my sword work and mixed it with shadow boxing to act like I was fighting multiple enemies.

Once I was done, I dropped to the dirt and slowly stretched out my strained muscles, singing along with the music to train up my music skill along with my training. I had already gained two in the two weeks I did it as a side project. Couldn't really sing and lift though.

My limbs tingled as blood slowly flowed through the swollen parts and I was careful not to overextend myself. My two boxing styles had raised one more level, more STR gained two, and my VIT one. I moaned into my hands as I flopped back to the cold ground in nothing but exercise shorts. Before long, I fell asleep for a quick nap.

I awoke at two, so I was asleep for two hours, my workout was rather short, only an hour and forty minutes, but it was one of the most intense ones to date and as I bathed in the pain, I couldn't help but think, 'I'm going to improve so much if I stick with this!' The rest of my day was spent working on my free-running in the woods, gaining another level finally. I figured out that I get a level for the level times ten, so I had to run three hundred and ninety miles over flat terrain, but it went faster if I added in jumps and the like which I did regularly, which was why I finally reached level forty.

The next week passed quickly. It had snowed on new years, so that just added an element of resistance that netted me the skill, "**Frost Endurance (Passive):** Level 1 – ability to endure the cold of ice. -2% frost damage." While the snow wasn't hurting me per say, this did make me feel warmer as I ran, so I was all for the steady increase of the skill, which leveled up by the hour multiplied by the level, something I figured out while forging without a shirt. It was basically fire endurance, but with the cold, so I figured that the same leveling applied to it as to the counterpart. Though, this was easier as I was standing in the snow and I couldn't keep my forge burning for hours on end, I would run out of coal at points and it would take a few minutes to get it back to good heat.

Spending a total of forty hours in the snow without a shirt on put me at level nine by the end of the week. A feat that I would not wish again as it was a good zero degrees Fahrenheit for most of that time.

This was great training, but I couldn't help but question, 'How reckless has this ability made me?'


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It was with a heavy heart that I threw on my suit at the end of the break, which fitted quite nicely with my newly gained muscle mass. The muscles weren't too big due to me tempering them with endurance and speed, so it looked more like a dancer's body that fought heavily on the side than a muscle-bound meat head that would have made all my clothing unwearable. I refused to look like my father, so I made sure to even it out.

I straightened my tie in the bathroom mirror before wetting my hair to sweep my faux-mohawk back into position. I needed to get it trimmed up soon. I walked out of the building, nodding at the landlord who was reading the paper next to the door before sliding on my helmet. I walked out and hopped on my Davidson. I had to make a stop to buy some fuel, but I still made it to school with fifteen minutes to spare. I couldn't wait until junior year where I could park in the lot at school, well, that and the fact I would be able to legally drive.

My first class was Art, so I found my way to the arts wing before taking a seat in the back. I apparently still had my dangerous reputation, so no one got within spitting distance of me and I believed my suit and aloof attitude towards the class unnerved the teacher, one Miss Parris.

The class was going to be the introduction to art, ranging from pencil drawing, to pottery. The first class was just an introduction to the course, so I barely paid any attention, choosing to go over how I was going to fit two hours of hardcore training into my schedule. It would be simple to begin with, but I would soon need to up the miles I started with as ten was too easy, so up to fifty which would take me two hours, then another hour and a half of training, so four hours. Hmm... I could make it thirty which would take me little over an hour, saving me time and still get me warmed up. I would have just enough time to get to the clearing, get dressed, work out, bath, change clothes back to my suit and drive to Junior's. If I couldn't do it, I would cut down my clinching time as it wasn't too important as of now.

The bell couldn't have rung sooner and I was out the door before anyone was finished packing, my dress shoes barely made a sound as I used my ten levels in stealth to passively quiet my foot falls. My next class was Greek, which I was looking forward to as I would like to level up my Linguistic skill so that I may understand languages I encounter in my life more easily.

The man walked up to the front of the room as the bell rung, "Hello students! Eímai kýrios Hale. You are here to learn the fine language of Greek! Now we call it Greek because that was just how it translated to our language back in near forgotten times when we used a far outdated form of English than the one we have today. This language, as you know, hails from Minstral and is still spoken there at this moment. Today, we will be going over the syllabus and handing out the course textbooks to everyone. Now, turn to the first page of the packet and we can begin."

I had gained the Greek language skill once the man said his name in the language and when I got the text for the class, I gained one more level in Greek as I read over the first page as the man went on about what we were to do during the semester.

I mostly ignored the man as I read the grammar book as well as the English to Greek dictionary that came with it. With my INT score, I could easily remember the grammar rules even if some heavily contradicted what my language went with. Over the course of my read for the next hour, ignoring the teacher mostly, I gained eight points into my new skill and one in Linguistics. As I finished the grammar book, I received one INT points for my studies which placed me at seventy-five. I had gained a few while training my body during the break as I figured out the leveling system.

The Linguistic boost for the new level let me go back and comprehend the subtle parts of the language that the beginner book hinted at, but didn't really explain. I only got one more in the skill, but with my memory and the way my skill was set up, I should be able to be fluent in the language by the end of the break. I would need more books on the language as well as much more grammar and culture books to understand why that word means what it does beyond the basics. One more WIS for me for thinking of that.

I put away the grammar book, but continued to read the given English to Greek dictionary to familiarize myself with the words. As I went through it, I got through a fiftieth as the bell rung for the next period, gym class. I placed the book back into my pack and made a note to myself that I would need to download some audio language software so I knew pronunciation of the language. It was one thing to read, but a whole different story to speak it.

The teacher took role and passed out locks for the day. I was slightly upset that we didn't do anything productive, so I just sat in the back of the bleachers that was our seats and read my dictionary some more, trying to get another level before the class ended. In the end of the period, I had figured out that for every fifty words times the level I was at with the skill, I gained another level in it. That meant that I was now level thirteen and it wasn't even the end of the day! Now, I need to know how to pronounce the script to put sounds to the writing I knew. I couldn't form a sentence for the life of me, but I at least vaguely knew the words and how simple sentences were structured.

Sure I gave this game thing a lot of grief, but it had helped me so much in my life, I couldn't help but be grateful for the skills it helped me in, even if I was the one doing things, it still made what would have been years, happen in only a few months. Such as Greek, the level I was at now, I would have taken most of the year to even get halfway here.

The last class I had was with Miss Garza. I arrived in the room and was immediately seen by the teacher, mostly due to the fact that I was given a berth of about seven feet. "Oh Mister Arc! There you are! Please stay after today, I have an offer for you!"

"I won't be in anymore plays miss, " I said frankly as I made my way to my seat. "I need to train for my E-class hunter's licenses and I will hopefully do well enough without the extra credit."

"Oh... Umm... well, still come stay after class, I might be able to convince you!" I just tiredly nodded. The woman would get me to stay one way or another, so I might as well stay. The woman was almost giddy as she shut the door. The woman skipped over to the front of the class and gave everyone a big smile. "Welcome everyone! I am Miss Garza and I will be teaching you acting, singing, dance, and many other things in our time together! As you heard from Mister Arc, we host plays here. This is not required, but it is encouraged to try out as even that will get you a little extra credit."

The next half an hour was the teacher blowing through the syllabus as she said, "You all don't care what's on here. You'll figure out what you're learning when we get to the thing."

The large, energetic woman clapped her hands once everything was gone over, "Okay, now. Up, up, up! We are going to start this year out by doing a basic improv! Now, someone give a theme and we'll go with it."

A freshman near the back raised her hand, "Umm... How about, like, uh, boot camp?"

The teacher gave a bright grin, "Ohh! That's perfect! You can act and we can get to know everyone's names! Okay, everyone line up, Jaune, please stand... here." The woman pointed next to her.

It would seem I will be the drill Sargent for today. 'Well, I get to channel my inner Bic.' I walked over to the place she pointed to as everyone got in a straightish line.

"Okay, Jaune, you are the drill Sargent today. Please begin," the teacher told me and I gave her a lazy nod.

"Okay, first before we begin, we need to know military formation. Everyone look to your right and raise your left arm straight out. Move so you are all in an orderly line." The class slowly followed this command and it was obvious they hadn't even seen a military formation outside of movies. "Alright, first things first, standing at attention is like this." I got into the position naturally. "Feet together at a ninety degree angle, shoulder squared back, chest out, hands tight at the side, thumbs straight against index." I nodded as people tried to do this. I leaned over to the teacher as everyone was figuring things out, "How loud should this be?"

The teacher looked at me and snickered, "Not too loud, but we have most of the wing to ourselves, so slightly under shouting." I nodded as I tossed my jacket over to a seat.

"Alright," I said quietly. "Attention!" I called out clearly as I walked over to the first guy in the line, a large fellow with a mohawk. The people jumped at my voice and stared as I walked. "Eyes forward people, you aren't here to gawk now are you?!" The students jumped once more and their eyes snapped forward. I stood in front of the big guy, "What is your name recruit?"

The young teen started, "M-my nam-"

"Wrong!" The teen flinched at my voice. "You are no longer an individual, you will address yourself as 'This recruit' only and you will start and end each and every sentence with 'Sir!' Am I clear recruit?!" I didn't get in his face like Bic would, didn't even move, but the guy looked scared.

"Ye-" The teen began before I cut him off again. He winced at his mistake the moment it came out of his mouth.

"Doesn't seem too clear!"

"Sir yes sir! This r-recruit's n-name is Robby!... Sir!" I nodded and gave him a small smile to ease his tension.

I mumbled for only him to hear, "If you are ever confronted like that, never stutter, it just agitates drill Sergeants." The teen relaxed a bit and nodded. I moved down the line to the next student, a small petite girl, "Name?"

"Ss-ss-sir, this re-recruit's name is Anna... Sir." I nodded and continued down the line until everyone has had a turn. I returned to my place next to a snickering Garza and stood at parade rest. "Recruits! Dismissed!" I relaxed my shoulders and gave a small laugh as everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Apparently I was convincing as I gained two levels in my acting skill. "Alright, my name is Jaune Arc by the way. Nice ta meet you all."

Miss Garza gave a loud series of claps, "Bravo everyone! I haven't seen improv acting that good in years! Oh, I look forward to teaching all of you! Nicely done Mister Arc, where ever did you learn how to put on such a convincing drill Sergeant?"

I rubbed the back of my head with a light blush of embarrassment on my face at the compliment, "Um... Well... I was part of a militarized town beyond the wall for a few months when I was thirteen. I was trained as one of their guards, so I had to go through boot camp like everyone else, so I knew how they acted."

"Ohh, exciting!" The woman said as she clasped her hands together. The teacher then turned to the rest of the class, "Alright everyone, there is only a few minutes left, so mingle among yourselves. Jaune, with me please?" I gave her a nod as I picked up my suit jacket and pulled it back on.

We went into her office and I leaned against the wall as she turned to me, "So, there is this play coming up in three months. The Wizard's lament. It's another musical like before and I would like you to try out for the part of the wizard since you did such a good job with Jack Skellington. Auditions aren't until next month to get everything set up, so you have time to think it over. The play is in May, so everyone has time to memorize and practice."

I blinked at her before sighing, "I make no promises as I need to go against and hit an above A class hunter to get my E class licenses, so I'll be extremely busy over the next month. If I complete the test, I'll give it a go, but if I fail, I wont. I can't give up on my hunting if I want into Beacon."

The woman nodded in understanding, her short blonde hair messily waving as she did so, "Well, let's pray you complete the test so we can get you back on that stage!" The teacher said with an ecstatic look in her brown eyes. I nodded and left the office to get my things from my seat.

The bell rang just as I grabbed the strap, so I threw it over my shoulder and left to go grab my bike from the parking garage. I pulled out my scroll and started searching around for language software. I ended up buying two bundle pack of the Dragoon's Emerald language software for the price of only two of their programs, because who could beat a deal where they save seven hundred lien in an eight hundred lien order. I ended up with the languages; Greek, Thai, French, Japanese, Spanish, Arabic, Italian and lastly because I ran out of ideas for languages, Tibetan.

It was a spurge, I would admit that, but I hadn't really bought anything for myself in forever. Sure, I needed food, shelter, and clothing, but the only thing I buy for luxury was my music. Plus, who knew when it would become necessary to know nine languages, that seemed like a handy as hell ability. "**WIS increase for turning impulse into wise decision.**" I stared at the message as I threw my leg over my bike. 'I may be grateful, but that doesn't mean you have to be a dick about it.'

I slid my earphones in as I drove and listened to the first part of the Greek program, which was a nine part series that was meant to make the user partially fluent in the language if they put the effort into it. I had a speaker on my headphone in my helmet, so I was able to repeat back the things that it told me to. I had it set for only the speaking parts for now because I was driving, but I would be going back to set up the full thing when I had time. A cool part of my HUD was that I could directly connect it to my scroll, so I had a screen in the corner that I could glance at to see what it was talking about. It wasn't able to be interacted with, that was exclusive for my email, but it was still useful in its own rights.

For the work out that day, I listened to the language and by the time I had gotten to Junior's, I was seventeen levels deep, which basically meant I could say hello, goodbye, and the basic things a two year old knew and could respond to. It wasn't great, but it was a start. From the boost, I believed there was one hundred levels to learn. I figured that once I reached fifty, I would probably get a level a week for the next while. I looked up the time it takes to become fluent in a language, which was about three years for ones like Japanese and the like, but with my linguistic skill, I should get that type down a few months less.

The distraction was welcome, since I didn't have to focus on how tired I was, nor what type of hell I was subjecting my body to as I hefted a rock more than my body weight over my head and brought it down ten times, only to repeat later. Along with the two points in STR, I also gained one in INT for studying diligently, I had a strong assumption that the point had been building for days, so I really just pushed it over with my four hours of Greek study after school. With the high score, my mind easily comprehending things around me and it made understanding things so much easier. I was no where near a savant in anything, how could I ever be, I wasn't even a genius, but I was on the top tier of average about to be in the gifted section if I do say so myself.

The day next day, I woke up and started my Greek lesson for the morning after I cleaned up. I had another suit ready for the day. I drove to school learning some more, downed a horrible breakfast. Learned that I could draw for shit, but still got a skill in it. Next was the part of the day I was looking forward to. Gym class was starting today!

I made my way to where I picked my locker out and stripped out of my suit, pulling out a wore muscle shirt that had multiple rips from wearing while forest running along with my solid black exercise shorts. I tossed all my things into the small locker I was provided with and left to go begin class.

I was one of the first people in the room, so I sat down on the bleachers to wait for everyone to get ready. It was a sad day when it took the girls of my class twenty minutes to put on gym shorts and a top. They also kept looking at me with strange emotions in their eyes. Must be judging my attire. Compared to the suit I usually wear, this shirt was a wreck.

My teacher, coach O'Neill blew his whistle and my class lined up near him. "Alright, we have the cardio room first today. We will be going over proper lifting tomorrow and hit the weight room then, but today, just use the machines to run. In forty minutes, we'll come back to the big gym and play some basketball."

I followed the class into the room and some of the jocks hopped on the machine, but half the guys and all but three girls just decided to sit around and do nothing. I shrugged at the lazy behavior as it didn't affect me any. I picked one of the free machines in the back and started it at three miles an hour to get it going and before long, I was going my normal running speed of twenty miles an hour, the top speed of the treadmill.

"Arc, what the sam hell are you doing?" I heard O'Neill ask me from the side.

"Running, sir?" I questioned. What else was I suppose to do, he said to run and that was what he instructed everyone to do. "You said to."

"Yeah, to run! You're sprinting at the top speed this machine can handle!"

I looked over at the man, I wasn't that fast. I guess for a normal citizen I was, but upper tier hunters had been known to easily hit speeds of fifty miles an hour at a jog. Ozpin, the headmaster of Beacon, was document at a speed of two hundred only recently and the man was no longer in his youth nor was he trying too hard, he was at the time searching for grimm, so he was still aware of what everything around him was doing. "Um... I'm a hunter sir, so this is my running speed. I could sprint, but I think I go about twenty-six miles an hour doing that though."

The man looked at me as I looked at him, still running. The man, an elderly gentleman with grey hair and a grey goatee and mustache combo, just sighed and told me, "Just don't get hurt Arc." I gave him a quick salute before going back to running, slowly inclining the machine to add an element of resistance. I ended up running fifteen miles by the time we left for basketball. I was sweating, but since my arms were dry, it wasn't that bad of exhaustion.

Basketball was just competitively shooting hops, so I didn't do much, but I did gain a new skill as I threw the basketball. "**Throw (Passive):** Level 1 – Ability to throw an object which can be lifted. +2% accuracy with thrown object." This could have a great deal of use in my life. I could think of many scenarios where throwing something could benefit me, such as a grenade for example. That was a big one that this could help with.

The new skill got to level three by the end of class, but I wasn't even tired from the game as I toned myself down to an average citizen level so everything was fair for the people I was playing with. I changed into my suit for the last class of the day and quickly left to reach the drama room in time.

The day was spent explaining what stage presence was, all the little things went into it. Needless to say, I worked on my Greek while she talked. I got a condensed version of the basics of everything this class taught so I could pull off the play. I tuned in every few minutes and after an hour of explaining things, we were put in groups, so I stashed away my scroll after pausing the lesson which was how to write the basic words, much harder than learning to speak or read I had come to understand. I could speak simple sentences, but spelling them out was a pain in my ass.

Once the day was over, I was back to training. I didn't gain anymore levels in my main scores, but I did get two more in Greek which got me to level twenty. I was studying the language six hours a day, so my progress wasn't too nonsensical. Well, I needed to get to my job, so I pushed my progress from my mind.

I gave a yawn as I changed for gym the next day. I only got five hours of sleep most nights which was better than two, but I wished I could sleep the full six like I did on break. I took my seat as I waited for everyone to get ready, so I wiped out my scroll to do more of the writing portions. I heard the whistle call for everyone to line up, so I quickly and discretely slid my scroll into my inventory as I got to my feet.

The teacher just yelled out, "Weight Room!" and started walking out of the gym. My class followed and we found ourselves in a medium sized room fulled with weight racks, machines for exercise, and a series of platforms. "Alright, now, I need someone to help me demonstrate the proper techniques, so Arc, front and center."

With a heavy sigh, I walked to where he was, next to one of the bench presses and stood there. For the next five minutes, he walked everyone through the proper way of benching, the grip, elbow corrections, how deep down, and how to spot.

Once that finished, I was used to demonstrate how to squat right and then he went over the machines using some of the jocks in the class. With all said and down, we were released into the room. There was no plan, but to stay active which, like yesterday, most of the class didn't do. I took the time to do some benches, so I set up my bar with two plates on both sides, about two hundred and twenty five pounds in total if I added the bar's weight. I estimated that my lifting strength with my arms was three times my STR level, so with my twenty-five percent boost to my lifting from my Affiliation with it, I should be able to handle this weight no problem. Legs were about three and a third times my STR, so I could do more with my legs than my arms.

As I finished, I heard the teacher laugh next to me, "You're a monster Arc! Keep up the work!" I snorted as I sat up to add tens to the mix as it was too easy to do ten reps. My boulders were hard to judge the weight with, but they are only slightly heavier than the bar I had.

The next thirty minutes, I did my thousand rep routine at the weights I was only slightly use to and managed to complete the STR level that I started yesterday during training right as I finished the ninth set on my military press. I was reaching the point where I would need to start using my leveling points to up my skills, but I was going to hold off until it was needed or at one hundred, but that would be five points every ten levels, so I had to earn the point gain.

With my muscles painfully swollen, I got off the racks just as coach blew the whistle to get everyone back to the big gym for the sport of the day, which was more basketball. I even gained a level in throw as I played the game, though I didn't try too hard due to being tired as shit still from the weight lifting. I was also worried that I would overdo it as that wasn't going to affect the work out I did after school, so I had basically doubled my weight lifting for the day like I tripled my running yesterday.

Drama class was boring, but I did finally finish the first lesson of my Greek program before I had to participate.

My first three days of class set the basics for my time through the next month. I worked out to the point of exhaustion and sickness everyday, pushing myself to limits that even Bic couldn't have dreamed of every moment outside of school and work. Breaking my limits took me to level one hundred and seven in my VIT, an unheard of increase at the point I was at my scores. My STR grew to level eighty-five and my DEX to level ninety with all the speed drills I did for my boxing styles. My blade work took a backseat to my hand to hand skills for the time as it was to assist my overall speed.

**Hand to Hand (Passive): **level 40 - Fighting without weapons. +200% damage with body, +200% speed with body in combat. Augments all aspects of combat.

**Boxing (Passive):** Level 26 – Combat Sport that fights with punches with heavy footwork. +52% damage punches deal, +52% speed of punches, +52% better footwork

**Muay Thai (Passive): **Level 15 – Combat Sport that uses stand-up striking with various clinching techniques. +30% more striking power, +30% better grappling, +30% speed of strikes

I could only go so far without a partner in Muay Thai, but that didn't matter to me any, I was faster, I hit so much harder, and I felt far more powerful than I was last month. I had no delusion that I was past a E class, but I was diligently getting close to be ready for my test. All I needed to do now was work on my blade skill which had only leveled up twice in the month of intense training.

A telling feat of my strength was that I could now dent an oak tree with a punch at my hardest, I didn't do that often as it hurt greatly to punch a frozen tree. Once school was over, I was at the bookstore for my blade books. I already knew which books to grab since I researched which styles were advantage for fighting grimm, so I grabbed a book on old Vale sword fighting, which used bastard swords and small heater shields to fight with. I would need to go buy a shield, but that was no problem. Other than that, I picked out a Minstral book on military fighting called Spartan fighting. Where Valian was powerful, Spartan was fast and agile, meant to never stop moving even with the shield that they used. A perfect combination with blades.

Once the books were in my grasp, I realized it wouldn't be for another two months that I would be ready for the test if I needed to get average at these sword skills. I sighed as I paid for them, I guess I could do the play thing so that I had some type of hobby that wasn't improving my body. I did enjoy playing Jack Skellington, so I guess I might enjoy playing a wizard.

My Greek learning was going well, I was already at level thirty-seven with it by the time I reached my clearing. That meant I could speak like a five year old, huzzah and all that jazz. The first book I cracked open was the one on Spartan techniques since I didn't have a heater shield on me and the fact that I was already okay at dodging from boxing. I didn't know how okay, but I could move around a punch if someone threw it at me.

I took my plan that I ended the month with and changed it a bit to focus more on sword work until I had it down pat, then I would eventually balance it out.

-Twenty mile sprint through woods  
-Three, five minute rounds of shadow boxing  
-Three, five minute rounds of Muay Thai shadow boxing  
-Four, five minute rounds of combining styles in shadow boxing  
-Fifty minutes of Spartan sword  
-Fifty minutes of Valian sword  
-Twenty minutes of combining the sword styles once proficient enough  
-Ten sets of ten Bench Press, ten sets of ten squats, Ten sets of ten Military press  
-Clinches for five minutes  
-Stretches for five

I didn't cut anything out, but I did place more time in for my blade than I would for my boxing. My workout would take me about three hours and forty minutes to complete, giving me enough time to do a quick bath and drive to Junior's.

My new regiment in place, I was dead tired from working out, but I felt a bit better that I knew a little bit more of the styles even if I could get them yet due to the lack of shield. Work was boring as always, but I did level up my insight again finally, placing it at twenty-seven.

After school the next day, I found myself waiting at a stage with the script of the wizard's part in my hand. My training was coming along nicely and I felt I had what it took to be an E rank, so I allowed myself to indulge in a small extracurricular pleasure. I would have to do a few lines and part of one of the songs for my audition. "Next!" I heard and I walked out with the script in my hand. "Name and what are you trying for?"

I scratched my face as I said, "Jaune Arc, trying for the wizard." The director for the play, which wasn't Miss Garza, but some new guy that I guessed was another drama teacher, waved his hand at me to continue.

I did my lines to the best of my abilities, knowing that the wizard's motivation was just doing something needed even if it was considered evil by the people. I added a slight lazy spin to his lines and a more breathy voice to show age, but not enough to sound fake. My acting skill helped with that part a lot. The song was to complain about the damsel being annoying, so I had to put an annoyed, slightly angry spin on the song while projecting my voice.

"I ask you again, why won't you just shut up?" finished up the song and gave a small hesitant bow as the man clapped. "Um... Thanks for giving me the time to do this." On that note, I left to go do my new workout. The weather was getting colder, but with my fifteen levels in my frost endurance, my body felt like it was only just above snowing, instead of inches layering the ground.

Through my continued riding in the snow and ice with my motorcycle, I had leaped to level thirty in driving it, which while didn't give me any boosts, I did feel completely comfortable driving in the dangerous conditions. I made a stop at a weaponsmith and picked up a good heater shield for only two hundred lien. I analyzed it before purchasing and got background.

**Basic Heater Shield – One of many mass produced shields made in Vale for basic use**

**700/700**

**Blocks bladed damage, but kinetic energy still takes full effect**

My workout went well and I gained the two sword skills now that I had the shield. It was only ten minutes into each practice that I got the skill, so I didn't waste any time learning them.

**Valian Sword Style (Passive): **Level 1 (50) – Ability to use the Valian sword fighting style effectively, use heavy strikes and hard blocks to fight. +2% damage to sword strikes, +2% damage with shield bash.

**Spartan Sword Style (Passive):** Level 1 (50) – Ability to use Spartan sword fighting style effectively, uses accurate strikes mixed with agility to strike while blocking any attacks with shield. +2% speed to strikes, +2% accuracy of strikes, +2% dodging speed

It was with a pained stride that I walked into the club for the day to stand in as the bouncer to guard against anyone that thought to disturb the peace or sneak past the man. The man knew what he was doing, but since it was so cold out, we had to rotate every four hours so no one got frost bite.

The young adults thought they could get by the new bouncer, but when I overpowered a citizen that was two times my height with muscles bigger than most peoples' legs, they got in an orderly line. I bet if I had kept my glasses off and revealed my face and scar to the people, they wouldn't have tried to get by me. My reputation hadn't really diminished over time, but people had gotten use to my presence once more.

When no one was around, I turned on my reading portion of my Greek software and studied the language. I could read basic sentences and figure out words enough to look them up, so my vocabulary was slowly expanding with the aid of my dictionary and the program. It got my mind off the finger numbing cold around me and the slight case of the sniffles I was developing by standing still in this weather. If I could work out, it would have been fine, but I had an image to uphold.

Two came around soon and it would seem they forgot to switch with me. It was cold, but I couldn't really leave my post. I checked in with Junior for the end of the day about that issue. "Hey boss?" The man looked up from his whiskey. "Um, was anyone suppose to switch with me doing bouncer duty like I did with Payne?" I asked Junior through my chattering teeth. The man looked at me and my trembling self.

"Were you out there the entire time?" The man questioned me. I could only nod as I tried to will myself to be warmer. "Dammit, who was on du.t..y... Whoops." I stared at him in confusion when he said that, wondering what that whoops was for. "Um... Sorry about that Arc. I had forgotten to set up a replacement to switch out with the bouncer for this week past you." I winced when I heard that, but nodded as it made sense why I was out there the entire time. "Sorry again."

I could only nod as I asked for permission to be dismissed, I needed a warm bed right now and just wanted to get the drive over with. When I got it, I hopped onto my cold bike and rode off to my apartment. The cold air blasting against me didn't help matters.

The next morning, I woke up feeling awful. I checked my status and found out why. "**Cold: Symptoms will range from tiredness, weakness, headache, fever, and nausea. Duration: five days without medicine, two with antibiotics.**"

I groaned into my hands as my face burned. Fucking of course. With a growl of force, I made my body roll off my bed made of blankets and sleeping bags to start the day. I couldn't just miss a week of work, I had bills and food that I needed to pay for. As I showered and started throwing on a hoodie and jeans, I had to stop to catch my breath. 'Maybe I could miss a bit of school, I wasn't doing anything important there today, but I'll definitely go tomorrow and stick with my training today!'

I fumblingly took out my scroll and looked up my school's number. I typed it into the phone function and raised it to my ear. "Hello, Carroll High School."

"Hey, um, this is Jaune Arc, a freshman there. I just wanted to call in to inform you all that I wasn't showing up today."

"May I ask the reason for your absence."

"Cold. I do have a question though, I have no way of getting a doctor's or parent's note, how do I go about making this absence not illegal?" I didn't want to get kicked out of school because I missed school too much. The high school had a policy that if you missed six days without legal reason, you would fail the entire semester.

"I'm sorry, but you need one of those or it will be considered a mark against you."

I closed my eyes for a tick before replying, "Well, nice to know that. Bye." The woman said bye and I hung up before laying back down onto my bed. The resulting nap was three hours long and I did feel a little better after I woke up. Not enough to convince myself to go outside, but enough to study a bit more Greek to further my skill in the subject. I also glanced over the other programs I bought so that I gained the skill in the language for later.

After three hours of studying, I couldn't take laying still anymore and got up to go do my work out for the day. I felt up to moving around, so I grabbed my keys and helmet before heading down in my hoodie outfit. I added a neck warmer that covered my nose and mouth to it, so the wind wouldn't bite my neck.

Once I was in the clearing, I started my work out for the day like I always do. It became apparent that the weakness made it so I couldn't do the weight lifting and the tiredness made it so I could only do the max of ten minutes of training with my blade before I had to sit down for a bit and bundle under a blanket I kept on me. I didn't give up, but I didn't get much done for the day.

I had to get to work soon, so I changed into my suit, but put on another shirt under my dress shirt. It helped a little, but I was still colder than a freezer. I pulled into my normal spot under an awning that I found my bike under and went off to go stand guard by the DJ again. I wasn't my turn for another bouncing gig for the next week.

I was so cold standing there, but I did my job and checked everyone out to the best of my abilities. No one was a threat that I could see, but two AM couldn't have come any sooner. I didn't stick around and went home to go back to sleep.

Of course the cold wouldn't be stopped by the ability that shrugged off bullets to the lungs. That would be just far too silly!


	12. Chapter 12

**Sorry for not updating, I've been writing and enjoying summer**

* * *

I ended up missing two more days of school and exercise from the cold. I didn't understand why my ability didn't just take it away after sleep, but then I realized something as I was browsing the internet to kill time. Games have hardcore modes that add personal upkeep and even diseases. It would make since my gamer ability would be on the hard difficulty as life was a bitch just to live completely through without something killing you.

When I felt that I was up to school again, I made sure to wear my shirt and body armor under my hoodie so I wasn't as cold for the day. The first time I'd arrived at school not in a suit that year, I believed, and hopefully I wouldn't tarnish my image again.

People kept their distance from me as I would glare at anyone who bothered me. All because I felt up to being back didn't mean I wanted to deal with any bullshit after being so sick. I was lucky that the teachers had basically given up calling on me for answers, so I was able to study my Greek in quiet or nap a bit during class. At gym, I tried to make up for the three days of work I missed, by going back to my standard brutal workout I was still a little weak, but I managed it with only a little bit more difficulty. My muscles were immediately in pain the moment I stopped, but that was of little problem for me. My fault for being a fool and getting sick.

As I walked into the drama room, I was bombarded by congratulations from Garza. "Good job Arc, I knew you could do it!" I could only stare at the large woman under half-closed eyelids. "You got the part!" I blinked at her. "The wizard's role! You know, the play you tried out for Tuesday?"

I blinked again before I remembered that I did indeed try out for that. This sickness had left my brain addled apparently. I just gave the woman a nod before going over to my desk in the far corner. I ended up actually sitting on the floor in the corner by the middle of class, curled up in an upright ball to nap the class away. No one bothered me.

The week slowly got better as my health increase back to top shape and I could work out to the fullest again. Soon, I was practicing the stances and basic kata for the new styles on my sword tree for the day, trying to, once more, make up for the time I lost just laying around. I threw myself into the work, going hard at learning the style to the fullest of its potential and getting use to using a shield in my fighting style.

The month of training passed uneventfully once more. I hadn't grown leaps and bounds like I did before when I was still new to the art, but I still grew powerful with the amount of work I put into the training, nothing too much as I was probably still weaker than the majority of the Signal students, but it was something. I figured my learning would slow and that was fine. I wasn't a fresh fighter, I had reached and broken limits before. This was another that I would need to break.

**Name: Jaune Arc  
****Level: 24  
****Next level: 84%  
****Title: The Disgrace  
****HP: 2620  
****MP: 1900 + 60%  
****STR: 96  
****VIT: 114  
****DEX: 87  
****INT: 78  
****WIS: 55  
****LUK: 23  
****Points: 41**

I had a strong feeling I really shouldn't be this strong at the level I was at, and I really need to change that title. I mean, if I was to just run around, I could go for half the day at a dead sprint if I wanted to if I paced myself. Twenty miles of running was just to train up my skill a bit, not exercise to me anymore. I was faster, but it wasn't anything impressive as most low class hunters were faster than I was. My strength was my pride out of all my skills though even if it wasn't the best, I could almost bench three hundred pounds by the end of the month. It wasn't too much considering the norm, but damn if I wasn't proud of it. If I compared it to the bar that I had trouble with in the beginning of my career, than it was amazing improvement.

I hadn't done a job in a long time, so I really didn't have much in the way of spending money, but I was still comfortable with my life at the moment, even though was at a constant state of exhaustion due to my training. My lifestyle didn't demand too much in the way of money besides food, gas, and rent.

As for the play, I had my lines memorized inside the week and now I just needed to practice how I delivered them. I didn't stick around too much after school, but I did stay for at least an hour to practice a scene with everyone before I had to go train.

School was going fine. My art teacher was annoyed that I didn't try too hard in her class, but she was annoyed at a lot of people for doing that. Mister Hale had given up trying to teach me, but didn't do anything disciplinary when I passed every test he gave out. I was three fourth of my way through the lessons on my scroll and at level fifty-three with the language. I was currently reading culture books on the history of Minstral besides military based ones to get a feel for the people. The books were in Greek, so when I was confused, I had to look up the word and this seemed to really start kicking my levels to new heights in the field of languages. Application and all that.

Gym was gym and I still worked out harder than everyone, but that was who I was. People were starting to actually try to exercise, so that was a good thing too. My last class went without mention as I hung out there for almost three hours a day.

So, at the end of February, two months after my last defeat at the hands of the instructor, I step foot in his arena again, only to find he wasn't there. I was slightly upset because I had asked the woman at the front desk when I made the appointment for this test to be with Mister Mentez and she said it would be done.

There was an instructor standing in the middle of the floor though, going over something on her scroll. She looked powerful and if she was filling in with Mentez, than she must be powerful enough as that man didn't strike me as someone to let people get promoted without working for it.

She turned when the door closed to look at me. With the new position, I could get a better look at her. The woman in front of me was a blonde who had her hair in a tight bun and a stern look on her face. In her hand was a riding crop that had runes glowing along its length with a purple half cape over her shoulder, covering a smart white blouse. The moment we made eye contact, I analyzed her.

**[The Witch of Beacon]**

**Glynda Goodwitch  
****?  
****?/?  
****?/?  
****STR: ? +30%  
****VIT: ? + 30%  
****DEX: ? + 30%  
****INT: ?  
****WIS: ?  
****LUK: ?**

I stared at the strong huntress in front of me for a moment as she looked me over. She had the same boost. Now how did I go about mentioning that boost without looking like a lunatic? I blinked away the shock before greeting her, "Hello Miss Goodwitch. Um, may I ask where Mister Mentez is?"

The woman nodded, seemingly to herself, before speaking to me, "Mister Mentez is on a special job for me at the moment. I am covering his shift until he returns. Now, I know how Chris has been testing you, so I will do the same even if it is out of the ordinary. If you hit me, you pass."

Hearing this, I ripped my weapons out of my inventory, holding my pistol and naked blade in my hands with my shield strapped to my forearm as I crouched low to be able to move or block. Goodwitch seemed startled by the burst of motion, but recovered quickly before sending out purple spells my direction. I was still amazed what dust could do, but I couldn't get any books on them. They were all restricted to hunting schools. It made sense, but I still would have liked to understand the material.

I charged and ducked under most of them. The one I couldn't, I took the chance to bat away from me seeing as it was kind of like a bullet. I timed it perfectly, but it exploded on impact with my shield, sending me flying to the side and denting my shield. I rolled out of the hit and sent my entire clip at her as I renewed my charge, this time weary of the contact explosives.

The bullets impacted a shield the woman formed and as it fell, I saw her wand, riding crop, thing pointing at me and an invisible force sent me hurtling back once more, purple lights exploding from my chest in a circular shape.

I growled to myself as I rolled back to my feet, "Of course I get someone that can negate the months of training I went through for this, of fucking course!" I snarled under my breath. Goodwitch didn't make a move, so I took the time to reload my pistol for the next engagement. 'Don't have any explosives, nor dust to use. I'm a purely physical fighter. So when I charge, I'll need to dodge everything and keep the crop from pointing at me, it seems to be the aiming device of her spells. So, charge again, get close, kick her in the stomach, get clear.'

The minor plan, if it could be called that, in place, I dashed forward once more. My body using a Spartan charging stance that kept me low to the ground, but ready to roll any which way at a moment's notice. I kept her sort of preoccupied by firing pistol rounds at her. The shield came up, a transparent protector with intricate lettering in circles all around it, but still clear enough to see through.

The slugs slammed to a stop on the shield, but her riding crop was steadily pointing at the center, so it must be that it needs to be held to stay active. I flanked a bit to the right to buy a little time for when she moved her hand.

The shield fell and she flicked her wrist at me with the riding crop following quickly, but I immediately rolled to the side. I had no way of knowing the size of the blast, so it skimmed along my back even if I got a good ways away, sending me rolling haphazardly backwards. With a few quick twists, I came to my feet and began dashing once more. A few feet away from the witch, outside of swinging range, I prepared to strike. The woman had a bored look on her face as she swished her wand again and sent me hurtling across the room.

I bounced off the wall and back to my feet. I let my sword stay loosely at my side as I held my face in my hand with the shield, the butt of my gun pressed against my forehead. "Do I even have a remote chance of hitting you?" I called out as I looked up at the woman.

She looked me over before saying, "Not at your level. The only way you would be able to is if you were faster than I was. Many young hunters use a repulsion system to get them to move faster than humanly possible. You however are rather slow for a hunter even now. " I gave a growl before pushing my legs to move fast when I heard this. I forced myself to activate the overdo skill and my speed took a major boost as I shot forward towards the woman. I'll show her slow!

I ducked under her missiles and did aerial flips coupled with cartwheels around the shots to keep my speed. The woman sent one as I was coming down. I couldn't get out of the way, so I threw my blade at the missile, I just needed to hit her a bit, nothing said with a sword. The blade and missile exploded into a shower of shrapnel that I blew through with my shield over my face to stop anything from damaging my eyes.

I felt a shard impact my lower chest, the pain was bad, intense even with my pain tolerance, but I fought through the ache with a roar as I was close enough to Goodwitch. My action with throwing my weapon confused her enough for me to get close enough to jump up and slam my knee into her nose. Her head snapped back, but even with the force I put into the strike, she didn't even back up a step, favoring bending at the waist backwards. What she did do was send me hurtling ass over tit into the wall once more, where my back cracked the wooden surface from the force impacted with. I gave a loud cheer even from the pain as I sank to the floor, "I'm an E class! YES!" I raised my hands above my head as I hit the ground with my sore back against the wall. I took a deep breath, but it hurt to do so, and it was apparent to why the moment I lost my tunnel vision.

Sticking out of my chest was half my broken blade with the hilt. I coughed out when I saw this, "A wounded E class." It was about the size of a short sword and adding on the depth it was in me, around the length of my forearm. I took the blade and ripped out of the my chest. Like a band-aid, I didn't want to take my time with it. 'Diagnose'

**Stab wound – three inches deep. No vitals damaged. Bone damage, lower left rib 5 in two places. Muscle damage with heavy internal and external bleeding. Non-lethal and can be healed with quick application of first aid.**

I sighed as I spun the blade around in my hand to see that it was useless now. The tip was coated in blood, but it was more flat now that I gave it a look. It more had a shard on the side that was sharper than the slight incline the rest of the blade had.

I tossed the ruined weapon to the side and set my pistol down with my shield. Without a care for who was in the room, I pulled off the hoodie I was fighting in so that I could patch my wound up. As I pulled out the needed supplies from my inventory, I spoke up, looking at Goodwitch, "So... What do I do? Do you have to do something like sign a form that said I passed or what?"

The woman was just standing where she was the entire time, looking like she wanted to help but wasn't sure what I was doing. "I just have to send word that you passed and the office will update your license. Just go to the front desk for the new license." I nodded as I finished wrapping the gauze around my chest, my skill allowing me to finish it up much faster than I had a right to. I gave it a hard pat which made me wince, but it was secure.

I nodded at the extremely powerful huntress and left the room. My shield and gun back in the inventory where they are resting, my blade fragment with them for later disposal, and my hoodie back on my body. I did it! YES! I paused though and growled in annoyance. 'I forgot to fucking ask her about her power-up. Dammit!' It wasn't like I could just go back in now. There would be no sigway and I'd be thought of as a dumb ass. Might even revoke the class ranking from mental instability.

I arrive at the desk and handed her my ID, the bloody picture still on the portrait. The woman checked out that I passed and changed my license into a E class, which was just erasing the F and making it an E, leaving the rest of it alone. I'm sure there was more digital things that went on, but I didn't know about that part. I pocketed the new ID and left to go train a bit before I had to work. It was only four when I had to do this, so I had two hours before my shift.

The weekend came by slowly, my routine not changing in the least except for accepting three E ranked jobs for the weekend after I had bought another copy of my sword, the exact same thing. All the jobs being grimm hunts, but are bigger in numbers, ranging from a dozen beowolves to twenty. Any more and its a D rank. If they were minors, it was automatic C-rank material, so I hoped I wouldn't run into any more of those until I was formally trained. Ursa were also E ranked kills, so I could start hunting those monsters when they are solo, but a sloth of them was straight B rank, so I wasn't going to take on too many, by too many, I meant I was going to kill one at a time. A minor was a good C too, so they were a no go.

My job for the weekend was to go out to a village, about fifty miles away and take care of a raging Ursa problem that had been destroying homes, but luckily hadn't killed anyone yet. My others were in a smaller town ninety miles further to the south that needed someone to kill a roving pack of beowolves that had killed a small family on their farm outside the wall. The last was to help rebuild the house that was taken down by the beowolves so that the farm could be up and running again soon.

The jobs were easy. The Ursa was a starving grimm that had a major stat loss due to the extensive malnutrition from not eating in so long. It barely put up a fight, so I was able to simply cut off its head and be done with the job before noon.

The next town over was another story. I arrived at around four in the afternoon due to having to run there. The mayor gave me the info I needed, such as the numbers and location of their den if they had it. This place did and I was off to hunt for the grimm.

The den wasn't too far, just about five miles away. I found the grimm's lair easy, but the problem was that there wasn't anything there. It was obviously used recently by the dead skeletons that skill had wetish blood, but they had already gone off to hunt. I gave a growl as I pulled out my weapons. I fired my pistol into the air and waited a few minutes. I wasn't about to go track down grimm in their own territory if I didn't need to.

It seemed it was a good thing I stayed as in only a half an hour, the grimm were back, but with their prey. A slowly dying man that was being dragged by his leg along with another large man in the jaws of another, sadly that one was dead as the jaws were closed around his neck. The beowolves saw me as I saw them, apparently having not noticed the gunshot, not that I could blame them as they were apparently busy. The pack dropped their prey and charged at me as one snarling mass. There was about fifteen of them that were coming at me, so I carefully opened up on the leading wolves, trying not to hit the man in the crossfire.

The first three went down as they were simple beowolves, bullets affecting them unlike their more powerful siblings, having just the advantage of numbers on their side. Once they had reached me, I opened with a crushing kick to the new leader's skull, sending it flying back as I speared another to the ground with my sword.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement, so I picked up my shield and blocked a flurry of claws, sending out a stab from the side of my shield which got the standing beowolf in the chest. As it fell to the ground, I was already hacking and slashing at the rest of the bastards. The grimms didn't last long as they were alpha-less and were obviously tired from their day of hunting. The last thing in the clearing was the sound of my pistol firing into the heads of the downed grimms, getting rid of the problem as well as leveling me up to twenty-five.

I gave a hard exhale to bring myself out of my battle high so that I could check on the man they brought with them. The man being a strong looking type with a severe gash on his leg as well as a broken arm. I crouched next to him and pulled out some bandages. Without a word, I carefully shifted his leg so that I could put some cloth on the bite wounds and tape it up enough for travel so that it could get some stitches. The arm, I made a splint for after pushing it back into place, much to the man's pain.

"C'mon, let's get you back to your town. We can get someone to come back for this guy once you are safe." The man nodded as he whimpered from the pain. I carefully pulled him into a fireman's carry so that I could lead with my gun for any stragglers.

The trip back was in silence and since I didn't want to hurt the man, I didn't run past a slight jog through the woods, so it was around six that I arrived back in town. The gates opened for us and the guards took the man from me in a haste to get him treated. In the hustle over the guy, I was able to slip away and get to the mayor to report that the beowolves were dead.

"Good, good. Our two builders were taken though, so it'll just be you and three citizens building the house back up. I'll give you a boost in pay, but it needs to be done by tomorrow afternoon. I'll have spotlights on the forest and guards watching over you to make sure nothing bad happens."

I sighed at the man's words, but nodded all the same. It wasn't like I would just quit because I had to go through a sleepless night. I walked out of the mayor's office and found my way over to where the house was. The foundation was up, but the walls still needed to be put in along with all the plumbing and wiring. It was going to be a long night with little time to take a breath.

The sky lit up with spot lights and we started the job. The citizen that was helping was the man that drew up the blueprints and was an accomplished carpenter. He wasn't suppose to help since he was the idea guy, but it was a desperate situation, so exceptions were made. I followed his directions to the letter and slowly got the rest of the framing work done. It helped that I could move over three hundred pounds at a time, so work moved much quicker than it would have if we had to cart everything around.

It was near seven when we had finished the five room house's basic set up. I had gotten a few levels in my plumbing while assembling the sink and toilet systems for the professionals to put in as well as installing the pipes under the house. Those Beowolves destroyed _everything_ in the building while swarming the house. What wasn't destroyed utterly was easier just to replace than to fix. They even ripped up the piping under the building for some odd reason.

I learned a lot about construction in the time I worked along with plumbing. It was a lot more complicated than I had first thought. The last thing we had to do was wire up a few outlets for the rooms to make living a bit more comfortable. That was about finished by the time the sun started to nearly peak the sky.

The men working taught me a crash course in electrical work and how to wire an outlet and install boxes so they could focus on the more important parts like the junction box and feeding everything through the walls to boxes.

It was seven hours later when we finally finished the job satisfactory enough to call it a day. The help of dust machinery and already ready materials making things go by much faster even if it was one of the hardest things I could remember doing. Even the battle with Goodwitch was easier as I knew what I was doing then, even if it didn't work too well.

The house was small, made for at most two people, but it was livable, if bare. It had a stone floor and blank plaster walls all around. The kitchens had counters and cabinets, but that was it. Nothing fancy, but the owners would spice it up with decorations when they moved in. Past making sure the house worked, that wasn't my problem.

I turned the job in at the mayor's office and got two checks for the jobs that would be my rent for the next two months plus some food. It was a hundred and thirty miles back to the city, so I quickly took off at a sprint to reach it before night. If I could get there before six, I would be able to drop by mom's before it was too late. I pulled out my scroll and played some music in my ears while singing along to it. The music helped me keep my speed up since it was fast pace.

Five hours later, I was back at the checkpoint to get back into the city, sweating heavily, but still capable of running further. After ten minutes of going through the checkpoint like always, I made my way to my mother's house which was an hour's run. All around, the day had been a roaring success. I had saved a life, killed a few grimms, built a house, and gained a level.

Sunday ended on a high note and I was in a good mood as I woke up for school on Monday. There was only four more months until the year was over, so I was determined not to miss anymore days so all my work wasn't for nothing. I had no problem repeating drama or gym, but I would if I had to do art, health, or Greek one. I was just good enough to get by in art class, though my drawings had a notable improvement, my pottery wasn't that great to the point I didn't even get a skill in it. The fact that I got a skill for cleaning three dishes was telling how bad I was at it. The best piece I had made was questionable at a base level. The thing was so bad that to the title for analyzing it held a question mark at the end.

I had already signed up for next year's classes which was Geometry, Physics, AP World History, Strength training so I could continue gym, Intro to Engineering design, English Ten, Greek two because I had to, and lastly was AP psychology. I was disheartened to find that dust lessons or any combat lessons were all in battle school, so I had to focus on academic grades, teacher recommendations, and my hunting score to get to Beacon which was quite the detriment since normal high school teacher's words meant little compared to hunting instructor's. I just had to try harder to be better than the average hunter than.

\- Time skip: 3 month

I made my way to Junior's one night in late April, wearing my normal suit for my job. It was a nice evening to just have a relaxing walk after a nice workout. I had balanced out my training evenly last month so that I could level up the two fighting skills together. I should be proud of where I was at with everything, but it was heard to confince myself that I was doing good work when I heard some of the bragging around the hunter office. Even after the past six months of mind-numbing training, which I knew wasn't a lot. I knew that it was short and I was still young, but it was hard not to feel like I was doing something wrong. I couldn't run faster than a sprinting Ursa, I couldn't rip a small tree out of the ground, I couldn't even make a landing strategy that wouldn't break multiple bones in my body! That was the basic thing every hunter knew I was was still fuck all shit at it! Then there was that bonus! I had chekced through the entire hunter selection at the public library and they hinted at some mystical spirit energy, but past calling it something like an aura around the person or something, it wasn't named.

There was so much that I couldn't do that people five years my junior were masters at! Five years my junior with only minimum training! 'Shut that line Jaune. No there aren't. That girl beat you up when you were weak. You're strong, just... just not as strong as you could be,' I told myself. 'Just try some more on the landing from a high fall. If this weird blessing gave me a damn skill for cleaning, it'll give at least something for landing. If not, there is the free-running. When that's maxed, I'm sure I could survive a lot more.'

Now, firearms in conjunction with swords, they could fire a symphony of death and I was using it as a distraction method because I just did not have the skill needed to kill a grimm with a gun past executions! I gave a growl at myself for letting those thoughts in. Maybe a drink after work will help. A few. Yeah, those always helped me feel better when I'm thinking this nonsense. I just need more confidence is all.

I wanted to feel good about my work, about all that I had improved on, all that I had achieved in only a year. I was an E class hunter with forty-seven E ranked jobs under my belt, a few dozens lives I had directly saved, hundreds of dead grimms' lives on my hands. I saved people's lives. That one made me swell a bit with pride and joy. I helped someone survive.

Sure, I only hunted small packs of grimms, those that were a nuisance, but were too much for town guard to handle. Mostly I would just assist the city or neighboring villages in jobs that required dangerous manpower like arc welding structures in known grimm area, building farms outside the wall of an active grimm zone, or assisting the police on patrols for special events because I lacked the social life to even go with anyone to them. I was a glorified day laborer and I knew it. Though... it wasn't too bad being a glorified laborer...

It was with these dark thoughts that swamped me that my mood went down hill and I ended up just staying in the corner of the club during my shift, making sure no one did anything. My brooding only made me feel shittier as the hours crawled by, seeing all the happy people hanging around caused bouts of jealousy to spike up, but I crushed those down before they took root. 'Some alcohol Jaune. Just drink some fucking alcohol. Get a bit drunk, maybe walk home so you don't hurt someone.' The night passed uneventfully and I ended up sitting at the bar after closing and drinking some whiskey. Mike got me talking and we started joking around. The man could always pull a story from his youth to talk about or from his escapades as a traffic worker before getting the bar tending job

I saw movement to my right and found myself looking at one of the girls that Junior had glued to his side whenever he was not at the bar. She ignored me, so I ignored her. The girl had probably had a long night of being hit on, there was no need to bother her even to just say hello. Mike was cleaning up as I polished off my ninth shot, everyone else was gone home, even Junior due to having business in the morning. Coughing into my hand from the burn and haze my eyes took, I got to my feet and walked out, the money I owed on the table with a tip. I was buzzed, but not dangerously so. I think. Just enough to feel the drink a bit. Though... I should leave the bike here. I could walk home. It was friday afetr all. I didn't have anywhere to be tomorrow.

As I walked, more staggered, around the back to the employee parking lot to make sure my bike was somewhere safe from the rain, I felt a hand fall on my shoulder. I barely stopped myself from drawing my side arm on the person. I might have been drunk, but I still was conditioned to fight. I looked over my shoulder to see the woman that was next to me at the bar. "Hello?" I half said, half asked.

The woman just gave me a grin before pushing me against the wall. "Hello," she seemed to almost purr out. "I couldn't help but see that you were looking mighty depressed today." The woman's hand traced my jawline where I was just getting my first stubbles. "I thought that I could help put you in a good mood. Can't have one of Junior's top boys being depressed..." Was I that obvious. Dammit.

On her last words, she leaned forward and captured my lips with her own. This caught me by surprise, but I found that it felt nice to be kissed, even if it was purely fueled by lust. I had no illusion it was anything but. I was soon hesitantly returning the kiss and I could feel her grin when I did so. The kissing turned into making out quickly after that. Wait. Stop, i told myself, but... it felt like my body didn't want to listen.

I tried to force myself to back down, but it was like I was light-headed and a passenger in my body. 'Oh for shit sake, is this the gamer shit?!' That was my last conscious thought.

I blinked my eyes open to find my eyes head tucked into a blonde hair-covered neck of a panting woman. A warm feeling was on my lower body and I drew back, feeling tired to see the woman's naked body held in my grasp, my hands on her legs and my dick buried all the way inside her as she ground herself against my body while moaning softly.

'What the fuck happened?! What?!' I looked at my clock on my glasses to see it was twenty minutes later then when I last remembered and my drunken bar was lowered down to a tipsy level instead of the smashed level it was at when I left the bar. I was about to panic from the situation when that accursed gamer's mind came in to force me to stop before I started.

After I had calmed down enough, I slowly lifted her off me and set her back to the ground. Her legs were a little unsteady, but she soon caught her balance. With a blushing face from her orgasms, she leaned forward to give me a heated kiss before picking up her panties from the ground and pulling them on, turning her back to me so she could tease me some more. The woman gave me a wink and strutted out of the alley into the city.

I stared after her in a slight shock before I quickly pulled up my pants. 'Mother fucker. What the hell happened?' I quickly pulled up my stats which showed a flashing skill list that looked like it was proud to display.

**Kissing (Passive):** Level 3 – Ability to give a kiss that knocks your lover off their feet. +15% pleasure given to receiver

**Sexual Endurance (Passive):** Level 6 – Ability to hold back an orgasm. +30% longer until climax

**Fingering (Passive):** Level 3 – Ability to pleasure a woman with hands. +15% pleasure given to receiver by use of hands.

**Sex (Passive):** Level 4 – Ability to pleasure a woman with penis. +20% Pleasure given to both parties

**Oral Sex (Passive):** Level 2 – Ability to pleasure with the mouth. +4% Pleasure to receiver of oral.

The fact that it put it so blatantly was uncomfortable, but I had more problems to deal with. I went to my drunken meter to pull up information on why I was kicked out of my body! That couldn't happen again. 200/300 - Smashed = **D****isorientation, mental confusion, dizziness, minor black outs. Exaggerated emotional states. Disturbances of vision and of perception of colors, form, motion, and dimensions. Increased pain threshold. Decreased muscular coordination, staggering gait, slurred speech, apathy, sensitivity, lethargy. **'Wait.. that black out part wasn't there before. I know it wasn't!' I screamed mentally when I saw the stat. 'Is this thing changing on me or did my level reveal that and I just never checked? I didn't know but it wasn't happening again.

If I started getting too much to drink, there was no way I was going to go do something that took my control away. I wasn't going to cut the alcohol out as I generally enjoyed the drink, the taste and all, but my moderation was going to change.

I growled as I shook my head, looking over my stats to make sure I hadn't caught something from my stupidity. I was lucky and was fine. Only change was the skills.

Man and I thought I was doing good with myself too.

* * *

**So. I took out the lemons and entirely changed the scene. I know it was bad. I'm sorry, I should have reread over it and edited. I really sorry about my writing and just how fucking bad that scene was. **

**I didn't take it out as I had skills tied in to that and stat points too, but I changed the tone and experience.**

**I feel that the gamer ability is over-powered in canon and I hate super over-powered characters. I'd also like to point out to those who think Jaune's weak. He isn't not by a damn long shot. His perception of himself is what you see, so that is what you get the impression from.**

**As I go through this, I'm using more relaxed gamer stuff as I go. Healing will be the same, but more long term aliments will be about because... Think of hardcore fallout. A sleep healed you, but legs were still broken.**

**Aura. I accidentally called Glynda's spells auras, fixed that. Jaune won't be using aura for a long while. Because aura would be terrible if given to any too bit criminal so I decided that it was heavily restricted like the explosive and highly dangerous compound known as dust. He will not get aura until Beacon. I'm sorry but he has overdue and that will take the aura's place for a while.**

**Everyone is talking about how his family has aura and all that. Well. They do. His mother does and his father does. His sister, no as they are still quite young. You do not give the power to destroy monsters to a nine year old, that's irresponsible. His father didn't because he's an ass and didn't see his son anything but a disappointment. His mother didn't because his father didn't and they were both quite abusive as you probably figured out. Me spelling it out and all.**

**Glynda. Well. Glynda saw a large boost in speed and power in a F. F! Rank hunter. What gives a boost to hunters? Aura. So no, she wouldn't have just unlocked it, she wouldn't have figured he didn't have it. Overdue mimics the enhancement of aura enough that unless you directly asked the user, people wouldn't be able to tell as they have no reference to anything other than aura. And after a certain point, when people are taking down ursa and packs of beowolves. It is assumed they have aura by the hunters, because what other power would let them fight like that?**

**The depressive tone was when I was going through something a few months, or year back as it would be now. I got over it and I have fixed that tone. There will be more consensual lemons later in the series, but I will skip over them as I'm not too great at them.**

**Again sorry from the bottom of my heart from that pile of shite, and I hope you like the change. I do I gotta say.**


	13. Chapter 13

The next morning, I was back to working on my hunting career. I had picked a two day job that I would be building and guarding a large farm over in Feodul. I had done a few more jobs with them since the minor pack incident and the mayor was a rather nice person, so I had no problems with interacting with everyone.

By the time I got back from the job and turned in my pay, it was Sunday night and I had to get to bed. I shot mom an email saying that I wouldn't be there earlier in the day when the irrigation system was having a bit of a problem that no one knew how to fix. I managed to find that one of the valves was broken on the main pump and fixed it in a few minutes. It was easy due to my skill; "**Industrial Mechanic (Passive): **Level 5 – Ability to work on equipment and heavy machinery. +10% speed and quality of work." Which covered factory machines to farm equipment.

With all my labor jobs, I may not have been a good hunter, but I was turning into a damn good construction worker. I was at the point with my Machinist skill that I could cut a chunk of wood to the correct size without measuring or create a needed part for a broken engine in the snap of the fingers given the right tools. I may not be able to take pride in my fighting, but I could in my skills with building houses and things.

The week of school was spent continuing my study in Greek, trying to eek out the last twenty levels before I was completely fluent in it. I had run out of things to learn, be it culture or the language itself, so I went online and found a penpal that wanted to work on her English and let me work on my Greek with her.

I had yet to learn her name, and the same could be said for her, just that she was a huntress-in-training too that hoped that she would be good enough in the Minstral yearly competition to make a name for herself. The contest was in March of next year, but the way she worried, it was only around the corner. The woman was a practitioner of the Spartan Sword style, so we exchange tips where we could in problems we had with the skill. My penpal, Milos, had trouble with her shield work and how to position it right, so I sent over tips that Valian uses while I had trouble doing the more complex parries that she helped with due to her experience with bladed combat.

Milos was the only reason I was at level thirty-six with the blade skill after three months of work and not stuck at twenty-seven when I couldn't get the parries down no matter what. Having a teacher helped me immensely with leveling up the skill, to the point I thought that I had a multiplier added to the experience gained. It would explained how I had gotten so high of a level in my engineering skills as every construction job, I had a supervisor that taught me how to do things and pointed out mistakes that I needed to work on.

I arrived back at my school for the day, paid for my parking, and walked over to the building. I was actually quite amazed that I had yet to be pulled over in the months that I had been breaking the law, but since I had my skill maxed out as I rode the bike in every weather except natural disasters, I didn't do anything to warrant that.

In art, I found my place in the back of the room and did the warm up absently before pulling out my scroll to check for messages, then I finally opened up Dragoon's Emerald's next program in the list I had. I closed my eyes and hovered my finger over the page before jabbing down. I heard the ping that I had selected something in my ear through my wireless headphones I used during school. I had the mike one for when I was driving. I glanced down to see Tibetan text flowing across the screen.

With a silent moan in my mind for picking a language that had another type of script, I opened the reading portion and began. I didn't have to take a break as I had already finished the assignment of the week last week and we weren't due to be done until Friday.

With my experience in languages, being just the two I know, I just got to level four as class ended. With Greek up next, I didn't even bother to pay attention as I continued to learn the new language. As I read a simple sentence, making note to buy a grammar books, I heard a male voice bark out, "_Arc, what the hell are you doing in my class if you aren't paying attention?!_"

I called back without looking up, "_Learning how to speak in Tibetan._" I blinked a second before realizing that I had just heard the question and answered it in Greek. Cool! I looked up to see the teacher staring at me. I glanced around to see everyone looking. "Um... Hello..." I nervously waved at the class as they looked at me

The man didn't look as mad, but he was obviously still angry. "If you can speak fluent Greek, why are you in my class?"

I chuckled nervously as I glanced around for an escape to the question. There wasn't one, so I mumbled out, "I kinda... taught myself over the last five months... Yeah, I'm apparently good with languages." I found I had pushed my fringe to the right side, a nervous habit that I had gotten into, playing with my hair that was.

"Why?" The teacher asked with a raised eyebrow.

I shrugged, "Why not? I don't do homework or anything, so I killed time by studying Greek. I got time on my hands."

The man placed his head into his hand, rubbing his eyes as he pointed to his door, "Just... just leave Arc. I don't want to deal with you this early in the morning." I tossed my still packed bag over my shoulder and left the room, placing my earphones back into my ears from where I took them out to talk. I found myself in the library where I picked a corner and quietly did the full lesson all at once, which took up the rest of the period and my lunch. It was fine as I got to level ten with it, letting my linguistic skill jump up one more level, so I learned my languages fifty percent faster. As I worked, my scroll vibrated to let me know I had a message.

I opened the email to find that Milos had sent me a message.

_Dear Luka Outcast,_

_I just wanted to let you no that I quallified for the tournamint! Thank you for you're help with learning how to use my sheild. How are you doing with the Sparten sword stile? Did you completed the parry form 29 yet?_

_Milos_

I chuckled good-naturedly at the slight spelling errors, which had gotten better over the time we had been messaging each other. I replied back to the message with a copy of her email, underlining the mistakes before answering in Greek.

'Luka Outcast' was my screen name, I made it on the fly so I picked who trained me and what I was in my social life. We were friends, Milos and I, but our real names had just not come up and there really was no reason to bring it up unless we were to ever meet face to face.

_Dear Milos,_

_That's great. I'm happy you were able to do it. I didn't do anything, it was all you. I wish I could go over to watch you fight, but alas, the club needs me to guard their dancing clients. I'm doing fine with the style. I'm no where near as good as most people are with it, but since I can swing the sword without losing fingers, I think I'm on the right track. I did not, sadly, complete the parry, but I'm so close that I can taste it. Again, congratulations._

_Luka Outcast_

I sent the message her way and went back to teaching myself the new language. I casually dismissed the level up notification in the side of my vision as I learned the how to say 'excuse me, where is the bathroom' in Tibetan.

I didn't get a reply before health class, but that was fine, she had things she had to do while I didn't. I barely even paid attention in classes these days, we only had a month left of school, so I was finished with school in my mind. I was already eagerly waiting for summer when I could increase my workouts and do jobs every day if I wanted to. It would be grand.

The rest of the month, like the last year of school, nothing too interesting happened. I was finished with the play's hell week and all we had to do was to actually do the play on the second weekend of the month, meeting up every day after school to continue to practice of course. Milos kept going on about how she was so happy that she got a private instructor in Spartan fighting for the summer that her parents were friends with. I was glad she was improving, the girl was endlessly joyful and I wished her the best in her training.

I wrote to her about the play and she all but demanded in her polite way for a video of the my first play. While she was a bit unwilling to show her face, I wasn't, and she knew I looked like a goofball. The only picture I had sent was one of my sibling group pictures, just me and my three sisters around a tree, when I was thirteen. I would have sent another, but it was really the only one I had on the scroll that I could show and I didn't want to take a careless self portrait of myself as I was now. Leave the scarring on my face alone, not that I was ashamed of the straight bite mark, it was just simpler. The other was a picture of me with the alphas, but I didn't think a picture of me covered in enough blood to make a vampire climax would be a proper introduction picture.

Miss Garza promised me that she would get me a copy of one of the plays, and when I asked, I found an email shot into my account from her after I left for work. Inside was a large video file holding my Nightmare before Christmas play moments.

I could only watch back my performance and find so many flaws in what I did. My dance seemed too forced, my flip was sloppy at best, I barely curled into a ball as I finished the first flip. My smile was too bland and the singing fell a bit out of tune in places. Gods, it was worse than I thought. Everyone else was flawless though. Ashley's acting was spot on and worthy of immense praise. The mayor was near spot on, the best that could be translated to the stage from an animated movie. It was with a heavy heart that I offered my friend the chance to see the play and she jumped on the chance.

The reply she sent warmed me even though I didn't believe a word she wrote. She was just too polite for her own good, calling my performance good. For a skilled Spartan fighter, I was still surprised about how nice she was even after writing to her for over two months. They were vicious in combat and, at least to me, some of that would have translated outside of combat. I didn't count my violent change as solely that as there was much more influence on me in the last year than brutal fighting styles.

On the sixteenth, I found myself sitting to the side in a wizard's robe, a white beard expertly put on my face to show that the wizard was an older gentleman. Robby was the hero, so he had to wear pseudo-plate armor. In the may's heat within a crowded theater, I didn't envy the poor teen in the least. To the side was Jessica, a senior with blonde hair and pale skin, the Damsel-in-distress for the play that the wizard would be kidnapping.

The play opened up with the Hero and the Damsel walking through a village with everyone smiling and dancing around. The opening number was to show that everything was fine with the world in their small village. Near the end of the song, I entered in my baggy robes, as a muscled wizard wouldn't do, flanked by two larger actors. I seemed to search the crowd as they sang and pointed at the Damsel, who I was surprised about not having a name in this play, she was just the damsel on the script.

The number took a darker tone as the two men charged the singing people and one of them tackled the hero and the other threw the damsel over their shoulder. The damsel screams and struggles, but she couldn't get away from the thug. It took some time and I had to carry her around in the number as she practiced flailing without knocking the grips of the actors. I was the only one in the drama department that could keep the average sized girl on my shoulder for extended periods of time. Not to say she was large, but none of us had wanted to risk dropping her.

Thug one play punched the hero and was kicked off by the man. For the next five minutes, there was a play sword fight that was kind of painful to watch even with my lackluster sword skill. Thug two and I exited the stage inside a simple wooden cart I built that was pulled by ropes off the stage as the fight began. The hero soon overcame the thug and knocked him out.

The hero took off after us, and the scene changed to that of the hero on his knees with the lights dimmed to show the passage of time. A number was done about how evil could befall such a kind soul as his love.

Another scene changed and we wheeled a desk onto the stage with the damsel with chains attached to her wrists on the desk. I was sitting, doing paperwork, but I really was just doodling on a piece of paper. "You'll never get away with this! Sir Esendon will be coming to save me any minute now." As she spoke, I mouthed along mockingly with the words with an annoyed expression on my face.

I bounced my head off the desk before spinning in my chair to looked down at the sitting girl, "For the love of mother Alva! Be silent girl! I can't mess up these calculations or all my work will be for nothing! I don't care if your hero comes, I'll just lock him in my dungeon and when the time comes, I'll get the blood I need from you for my ritual!"

The stage dimmed and a spotlight fell on our table as the woman started singing. The audience laughed as I stared down at her with wide eyes before fumbling through my desk for a pair of earmuffs. The earmuffs were for show, I could still hear everything outside and as I finished up one of my doodles, my line came where I had to lament on why I chose such a stupid damsel. After another minute, my next verse was to go on about how the woman from the desert kingdom was quieter than this. I had to close the song as the curtains slowly closed and the lights dimmed, "Oh why can't I just throw you into my dungeon?!"

The scene ended as the song came to a close and we quickly set up the next set which was the hero traveling through the perils of the path to the tower. The rest of the act was him assembling a rag-tag group that found him annoying, but had a grudge against the wizard, so they put up with his paladin like nature.

After the break, we come back to the hero, who was still the insufferable man he was in the beginning, standing in front of the tower with his three companions. There was a door frame with two guards in front of it. "Halt, state your business!" One of them called out as the group approached.

The hero stepped forward, "I demand you release my love from your clutches before I end your wizard's evil reign!" the party all shook their heads at the hero's antics.

The guard looked at his partner before saying, "Evil reign? Does Mister Conners hold an evil reign over people?"

The partner shrugged, "I know he has that weird dungeon thing going on, but he mostly sits in his office all day and paints to me." The guard then looked at the hero, "Well, we can get someone to help you schedule an appointment with Mister Conners. He's not too busy, so you might be able to see him tomorrow."

"If you won't release my love, then I shall have to defeat you, en garde!" The man ripped his prop blade out of his sheath and lunged at the guards. His companions all shook their heads again before joining in the fight. The group was so dysfunctional that they kept getting in each other's way. The three were knocked out by each other, but the hero managed to overcome the guards eventually and charged through the door, leaving his group behind.

On the way there, a thug that was holding a plate with a sandwich on it looked up at the sound of fighting and when he saw the hero charging him, he dropped the plate and pulled out a kitchen knife from his back. The curtains fell as the two fought each other.

I was proud to admit that I was the teacher for the fighting so that they could do it at least somewhat fluidly. My work paid off as they were great for citizens and looked like they knew what they were doing, even if they all were still painful to watch. It was better than what I saw when I first watched them try. A bunch of people treating a sword like a bat, they were.

The office came into the scene and I was standing with an easel set up, painting a crude duck on the canvas. I said aloud as I added water under the bird, "Where is my sandwich? Ordered it like ten minutes ago." I looked over my shoulder to the desk where the woman was still chained, "You sure you don't want one, I hired the cook from a royal palace after a rebellion killed his king. He makes great food."

The woman shouted over, "You won't get away with this! Drake must be almost here and he will bring you in!"

I looked affronted by this. "Fine, gosh, forget I asked," I replied in exasperation. I turned back around and continued to paint the water blue. The door frame to the side exploded open as the hero kicked it down. I barely kept the smile off my face seeing that Robby got the kick down, he was trying so hard with it for so long. I had him doing leg exercises to increase his kicking power as he went through the script so he could pull it off.

I burst into action and grabbed a rusty sword from the side of my desk. The hero walked in with a swagger to his step, "Foul sorcerer! I am here to end your evil reign of terror and rescue my love from your clutches!" I haphazardly waved my sword at him as I retreated to my desk. "S-stay away! I'm warning you!" I put an old and meek spin on my voice that wasn't there before.

The hero stepped forward with a heroic laugh and I slammed my hand down on the side of my desk. The stage trap door fell from under the man and Robby dropped to the cushions below with a startled feminine scream.

I tossed the sword to the side as I walked forward with a confident gait to the hole and looked down. "With how she played you up for these past few days, I thought that would have been a challenge." I turned back to my desk where the woman was struggling against her chains and tapped the corner for the trap door to raise.

I found my place back at the easel and the brush back in my hand. I checked on the door before speaking my thought aloud, "Now where is my cook?"

The next scene was the hero singing his woes in a cell with the group he came with. They joined in, believing that Drake had to leave them behind to take down the wizard, but knew that his trickery beat him.

The scene went on for a few minutes, the group overcame their differences to fight a singular enemy and shook hands.

After the ten minute part was done which ended with them planning their escape, I was back on the stage, holding my hair at my desk as Jessica was going on about how he wouldn't get away with things. Around her neck was a line of tape and the remains of some on her cheek.

The wizard was meant to lose his cool. So finally at the right line, I stood up and slammed my hands loudly on the wooden surface, careful not to damage the structure, "For the love of everything, would you just shut the hell up for five goddamn seconds?! Two weeks you've been talking nonstop! Two weeks I've had to deal with your voice!" I cried. "I'm not in the mood! Because of your hero and his compatriots, I have to hire new guards because he beat the shit out of them!" Jessica gasped at the language. The play was for teenagers, so my line was the one curse that was allowed in the play.

"Oh grow up you silly girl! My chef is laid out with a broken hand and leg because your hero didn't understand the difference between a fighter and a damn chef when he charged in here! I had to cook for the both of us and pay for the doctor to fix the man's hand. Do you know how hard it is to find good help that didn't try to steal from an old man? Rather difficult!"

Jessica only turned away and began singing about how her hero would come for her any moment now. I took out a knife from the desk and mimed stabbing her in the back with a look of rage on my face as she sang. When the song ended, the door that was replacing the old damaged one got kicked in. The hero took a pose as he entered the room with dirty armor while flanked by his three friends.

I put my head in my hands while propping my elbows on the desk. "Oh lord, they multiplied." I looked back up and said, "What the hell?! I paid those guys top lien to guard you guys! Those useless wankers!"

"They couldn't stand in the way of true love, my hero, save me!" Jessica cried out to the group of adventurers.

I just groaned into my hands before dragging my face up, careful not to displace the beard. "You know what?" I exclaimed as I pulled out my desk drawers and dumped papers into a burlap bag that was hung under the table waiting for this scene. "I can do this next month in another town. One with less crazy people. The moon's not going anywhere and there will always be women around. Please, just take her and go." I tap the underside of my desk where I rigged up a release to the chains on the side of the desk.

The chains dropped off the tape-covered girl and the damsel charged over to embrace the hero. The three party members were not satisfied with this though. They all had a grudge against the wizard taking one of their women from town only to have them turn up a month later, scared witless. One of them pulled out his crossbow and aimed it at the wizard. We didn't have any safe bolts, so I would have to mime me getting shot.

"This is for kidnapping Silvia!" The man shot and I recoiled back in the chair I was sitting in, before slumping onto the desk. The death was anti-climatic, but jarring. I faked being dead as the two remaining people spit at the floor in front of the desk with the damsel screaming in terror and the hero questioning what was going on.

"You may have had a noble goal, but I wanted the bastard dead for what he did to my Silvia! He held her for a month before draining her of half her blood for an evil ritual of his! She has never been the same since because of that man!"

"Was this what Silvia would have wanted you to do, kill a man in cold-blood?!"

I weakly raised my hand, "Not dead, help me," I moaned out in a small voice, my microphone picking it up. The other member threw a dagger at me and it hit me in the head and my arm dropped. Damn… That hurt a bit.

The man that was question looked at me before answering, "Who do you think sent me to get revenge on the man that hurt her?"

They argued off the scene and I was done with the play. There was last musical piece as the hero and damsel split from the three killers and went back home. The play ended as the two married after another number, but the wedding was on a dull note with the death of the wizard hanging over the two. Especially when they had found out the wizard hadn't killed anyone before.

The curtains closed for the last time and the crowd was giving loud cheering. I rubbed my head as I walked out to give my bow with everyone. I stood next to Danny, the one who threw the knife, "Nice throw man. Square into my head."

The man sheepishly scratched his head, "Sorry about that. I aimed for the shoulder." We gave our bow and farewell before heading off to change out of our costumes.

I was careful to take the beard off with the help of the stage hands once I was out of the robes and back in my discount hoodie and jeans. As the beard was being slowly eased off my face, I saw Jessica coming over, "Hey Jaune, we're having a party at my place to celebrate our first show. You want to come?"

I gave a small nod so I didn't agitate the person that was pulling things off my face. The girl gave a smile and handed me a card with the address on it before heading off to spread the word of the party. It took ten minutes to get that beard off me, ten minutes of tiny pinpricks of makeup glue getting pulled off my face. "I've gotten tattoos more pleasant than that," I joked with the guy that was helping me get it off. He laughed as he packed up everything.

I found my way back to my bike and using my mini-map, I was able to find the house fairly easily. It wasn't a big party, so no one was outside, but I did hear the music. My bike hummed to a stop at the curbside and I dismounted it before tossing my helmet into my inventory.

With a knock on the door, Jessica answer and gave me a big smile. "Come in, come in!" She said as she opened the door wider to show that the crew was all around the room having a good time. As I entered, I had something pushed into my hands and with a quick analyze, I discovered it was beer inside a party cup. I sipped it as I walked into the room to greet everyone.

I took my position by the wall after an hour of talking as I drank the lukewarm beer in my hands. It was okay, but I liked what I usually had better, a bit more of a kick to it. Everyone but the director was there which was a good thing as he was a stickler for rules, would have reported the alcohol in seconds.

Once my cup was drained, I just relaxed against the wall, listening to the music that was playing. I blinked my eyes open when I felt a hand take mine. It was Victoria, a small junior that played one of the villagers in the beginning of the play as well as one of the leading stage hands. "Come and sit with us Jaune!" I looked at her closer and saw a slight blush along her cheeks along with half-lidded eyes that screamed drunk.

I obliged her and she lead me to a couch with my drunk cast mates all around it, seemingly having overdone the alcohol. "We're going to play a game of truth or dare to end the night! It'll be fun!" I sighed before sitting down on a loveseat with Vicky.

"Okay, Danny, you're first!" Jessica called out with a giggle. The intoxicated boy reached forward and flicked the bottle clumsily to a spin and I had the misfortune of it landing on me first. I sighed out truth as I waved my hand at the guy.

Everyone oohed as Danny grabbed his chin to think of something. "Okay... Have you ever done anything illegal in your life. If so, what?"

I blinked at the question before nodding. "I live on my own, so I have driven a motorcycle to school, work, and home everyday for the last six months."

The people looked at me before the guys leaned in, "What is your bike?" Danny asked.

I gave a grin before replying, "I already answered the question." The guys gave a groan and beckoned me to go. I spun the bottle and it landed on Robby. He asked for dare. "Alright. I dare you to tell Kevin you think he's the sexiest piece of ass in the world without laughing." Robby gave me a betrayed look as he tried to school his expression. He didn't even get the first word out before he was laughing.

As the party wore on and everyone got drunker, I had ended up seeing most of the girls topless, most of the guys do somethings stupid, including myself where I had to sing the little tea pot song while doing a one-armed handstand. I had consumed about seven shots of whiskey, so I was well and truly drunk, but everyone else around me was smashed. I hope I wasn't smashed, but I didn't have my glasses on and I was too out of it to check. "Alright, last go before we call it a night!" Vicky slurred out. I had the luck of being the last one picked. I sighed out dare from my place on the couch.

"After we leave, you and Jess fuck each other like rabbits for the whole night." I stared at the small girl that suggested that. She wasn't usually that vulgar after all.

Before I could refuse, Jess answered for me, "Sure." But not in a way I was expecting. They all laughed loudly and we had to finished off the shots we had. The teens stumbled out the front door and I went to follow, but Jessica pulled me by the collar back into the house. 'Well… how deep am I in alcohol consumption?' The thought of blacking out sobered my mind enough to open my menu. I checked as the girl went to close the door to see I was bordered on smash and tipsy, favoring smashed. 'Hell no.'

I bolted out of the door just before she could close it, calling back, "Cya later!" I stumbled a bit, but had enough sense not to get on my bike. I managed to get onto a roof in the commercial district after a few minutes of walking before I decided to sleep off the alcohol. Happy I hadn't been roped into another bout of drunken sex. 'Damn, need to keep it under three. That was close.'

I also raged at myself for my lack of self-control at the party. I had just had an incident with that and there I was, about to have another because I didn't watch myself. Man. I need to work on that before it bites me in the ass.

**Close, but it didn't happen. **

**Yo! So I'm going into surgery tomorrow, 8/19, and I'll be in bed for a long time. Open heart surgery is a bitch. If I die which isn't too likely as I'm going to the best cardiac hospital in America, know that even with the ups and downs, I loved working with this site and advancing as a writer. Ricky! If I do go down, you have editing access to this story, so do not let this stay down! My password for this account is on a green slip of paper on my desk, post the rest in timely intervals**


	14. Chapter 14

The morning sun beamed down on my face, waking me up. I groaned as I sat up, my back stretching painfully. I looked around and saw myself on a roof. "Why?" Memories slowly filtered back into my mind and I gave another groan. 'Okay… That was too close. I need to cut back, really.'

Jumping off the roof using the adjacent buildings, I walked the short distance back to where my bike was parked. It was where I left it, so I just hopped on to the leather seat. It was around the corner of the house, in a car pool parking area, so no one had bothered it.

As I sat on the motorcycle, I placed my helmeted head in my head for a second in disappointment with myself. 'I just had this happen and I almost allowed it to happen again. Fucking shit Jaune. Pull yourself together. You're going to be a hunter, not some stupid phatboy.'

My scroll rung, breaking me out of my self-scolding. "Yo?" I answered the phone after slapping the side of my helmet to activate my ear piece.

"Arc! I need you at the club now! The Vandals has started their retaliation for that shit I pulled and we need reinforcements! I underestimated the numbers they would bring and didn't call in enough me! They are going hard trying to kill me! They are pushing hard, we need all the help we can get!" I heard gunfire in the background as Junior was shouting.

**Quest:**

**Fight back the majority of Vandal's forces  
****1 hour remaining  
****Reward: 30000 experience and respect among Axe gang and underground crime  
****Failure: Junior dies and due to nature of battle, large chance of death or maiming.**

I put on my headset as I got on my bike as I accepted the mission. My helmet followed soon after as I revved the engine to life. "I'm on my way." I shot off, leaving a skid mark where I was at.

This I could do and keep control in, I wouldn't be fucking up like I do in my social life. I could fire a weapon and kill a man. I know that was within my range. Drinking responsibly maybe not, but this was.

I pushed my bike as fast as it could go through the city, expertly weaving around traffic thanks to my complete control over the bike. And I was having such a good morning too.

Junior's was only twenty minutes away by using the law's limit. I was going past one hundred and fifty around the corners, my jeans lightly grazing the road as sparks flew from the frame of my bike that skimmed the ground. I would make it there in far less.

Cars were blaring their horns at me, but there wasn't much more they could do as I blasted by them.

I saw the club being shot at from the front and it must have been surrounded as the Vandals had way more people than what I was seeing, so I roared by them, using my chopper as a ram and hit two Vandals in my way. I had to brace myself as one hit me in the chest that nearly dismounted me, but I kept going and swung around the side into an alley. I stopped my bike and pulled out my shield and rifle. After loading my dust round, I ran out of the alley with the weapon on my shoulder.

My HUD told me where I was aiming, so I didn't have to aim through the sight as I fired the magazine at the vandals, taking five down with various shots. My sudden entrance surprised the vandals enough that I was able to get out of the street, into the alley leading to the employee's parking. I lead with my gun on the shoulder through the alley as I quickly walked to the end.

When I turned the corner, I saw where the real battle was taking place. The cars around gave the rival gang ample cover to fight the building at. A bullet pinged off my shield as I moved towards a car for cover. When I felt this, I let myself dropped forward and hit the asphalt with a thud. I made sure to land behind a tire, so no one could get a bead on me from under the cars.

Behind me, Junior's men were firing from the high ground of the club. I didn't even try to get to the club's back because it would have been suicide.

My chest was nearly flush with the ground as I pushed myself along the parking lot. Over the gunfire, I heard my headset ringing as someone called me. I slammed my helmet into the ground so the side hit the button that would accept the call, not the first time I needed to do that after all, I hoped it was from Junior so we could coordinate things. "What?" I growled as I popped out of cover and fired at the vandals. The hood in front of me was covered in bullet holes before I could get the fourth round out. I ended up planting my heater into the hood, using the point as an anchor, and using one arm to fire from the side of it.

"J-Jaune?" I heard a female ask. I raked my brain for who it was as I pulled my arm from the straps my shield was held on with. I needed to reload and keep the bullets from finding home in my head. "W-what's happening?!"

I came to a realization as I chambered a fresh round into my gun. Garza. "Hey miss Garza, um.. this is a bad time to tal-" I felt burning metal slam into my gun shoulder, it went all the way through and flew out my back. It was a lucky thing that dust rounds were not hollow tipped or that could have been worse. "You fucking slut!" I screamed out in pain as my finger tightened on the trigger as I braced myself against my shield. The gun roared out its whole clip as bullets pinged off the metal I was hiding behind, dents surfacing on the other side from the hits. "I gotta go!" I punched the side of my head as my rifle clicked empty and the call ended.

I pulled out my scroll and quickly rang up Junior's number. I heard him pick up. "Hey, I'm kinda pinned, you have any explosives in there that could help unpin me?" I nervously called out as the tip of my shield blew off in a shower of shrapnel.

The man chuckled as I heard something shift over the phone. "I got som-... Move Arc!" I heard the man scream into the phone. I didn't waste anytime wondering why, he had a better view of the land than I did. I just grabbed my shield and began to dash across the parking lot to the next car open. A loud noise overcame me as a force picked me up, sending me flying the rest of the way over the parking lot to bounce off the roof of the car I was running towards and punch through the back of an SUV parked behind it.

My ears were ringing as I could only lay in the vehicle's trunk, metal and glass shards around me from where I hit. "That hurt," I breathed out, letting my head thunk to the floor of the trunk.

"Arc, you alive?!" Junior yelled in my ear.

I didn't reply for a second as I regained my barings, glancing up at my health to see that it was **2910/4326**. That really fucking hurt! "Yeah, but that was bad," I moaned out as I tried to move, only for searing pain to rush up my arm. I looked down to see the limb was angled funny. "Broken off-hand and a bullet in my good arm," I reported painfully in. "Not sure the status of my legs yet."

"Get up, Guardsman! I need you back in action! We are about to send out a force to try to push them back and I need you to flank them!" I gave a groan as a reply and started dragging myself through the SUV so that I could get out the driver side door. My shield had to go back into my inventory as I didn't have an arm to hold it correctly.

Once I rolled to the ground and back onto my unsteady feet. "Okay... Okay, let me just get in position." I looked down at my rifle and saw that it was dented, but still usable. I slinked along the ground, my hands letting me walk forward like an ape to keep my profile behind the cars.

"We're going Arc, you ready?!" I gave a grunting confirm and I heard an uproar of fire from the building. I peeked over the car to see nine men go down from bullet wounds ventilating their bodies. In the distraction, I popped up over the car I found myself behind and fired the rifle at them with one hand, my other arm useless.

The Vandals tried to scramble behind some cover that put them in between me and them, but in their haste, they left themselves open long enough for a third of their remaining numbers to be taken down by the advancing force. As I fired, I felt a hand on my bullet wounded shoulder. Checking, I saw Mike with a small machine pistol in his hand. "C'mon Arc! We can take care of the rest of these sons of whores, get inside and fixed up!" I gave him a sharp nod before handing my position off to the bartender.

I pushed my body to move as fast as I could as I ran towards the now opened bullet-riddled door to the club. I got inside and spun to the side so I didn't take a round to the back. As I took a deep breath, I got out of the shooters' way and staggered my way to the second story front so that I could provide some help holding the road, I wasn't out of the fight yet. I took my place next to Payne who was firing a shotgun out the window down at the vandals.

The man checked me over before nodding as he reloaded. The pump-action gave a solid click as he racked a new shell into the chamber. "Nice takedown with the bike. Hope she wasn't too banged up." I chuckled at the man's words and propped my rifle next to the window and drew my pistol out of my inventory. I didn't care if anyone saw it, but Payne was firing out the window again, so I didn't believe anyone did.

I used the one-handed gun to carefully aim shots at the people below. Payne's buckshots didn't do much, but they made the vandals have to limit their return fire. The streets were already red from the blood of over twenty dead bodies from the prolonged fighting. I added to the count by five in the next ten minutes as the battle out back stayed strong, giving no reprieve for us or any reinforcements from the police force. The Vandals just rolling in with more troops as the fighting continued. "Why are there so many, I thought there was like forty left?!" I shouted over to Payne.

The man fired one last round before spinning back next to the window, "Vandals had been recruiting viciously for over five months. That stunt over at the docks pissed them off, but we only just found out about it last week, so we had little time to prepare!"

I glanced out and looked along the streets which were lined with fancy tricked out cars that the vandals drove. "Where the hell are the cops?!"

"I don't know! They should be here by now! Vandals must have paid them off!" Payne replied as he fired his shotgun back at the crowd. I was about to continue as well when I heard a hard grunt. I checked over to Payne and saw him fall back, holding his left chest. With wide eyes, I grabbed him by the collar of his suit and dragged him out of the way of harm.

I tore my helmet off once he was safely away and screamed, "Medic! Payne's down!"

I took a breath to yell again, but a hand grabbed my gun arm. Payne's hand was gripping my arm tightly and I saw his mouth open. "I'm gone, Arc… Hea-rt. I saw you last night. Grea...t show, Arc, I couldn't st...op... lau.g...hing." Payne let out a sigh and laid still. The bullet had torn a hole through his heart, he was gone. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I took my sadness and turned it into rage. I grabbed my bad arm and with an agonizing pull, I snapped the bone straight again with a sickening crack. I could move my fingers, but moving my arm brought intense pain. I didn't care as I grabbed Payne's shotgun and took his spot. I aimed out the window using both my arms and fired at the fighting force below.

My accuracy was awful, but it did the job of suppressing the Vandals for my comrades to reload and aim. I felt a fire burn in my heart as I racked the slide of the dust shotgun and fire down into the assaulting gang. When the gun was empty, I set it to the side and drew out my pistol once more, sending gunpowder rounds down at the shooting gang members.

The fire grew and grew as I saw more and more of my co-workers fall from the growing force until I felt my heart simply snap, a pressure pressing down on my chest like a physical force. My rage causing me physical pain as it squeezed my life-pumping muscle.

I summoned my blade and shield from my inventory, my pistol going into my belt line, before backing away from the window. 'These bastards could shoot guns, but could they handle close combat?!' With a wordless roar, I sprinted at the window and hurtled the sill, easily flying out into the street.

I started coming down towards a gang member, so I aimed my blade down my body, resting between my leading feet. My boots slammed into his chest and the point of my sword tore through his eye and the top of his head as I rolled forward and back to my feet. The blade popped off the top of his skull as it came free, splattering my legs. I didn't pause as my blade whipped up and decapitated the gang member next to me.

My shield slammed into a man's chest as I did this. Pain shot up my arm, but I was too lost in battle to notice it. The gang didn't know what to do as I hacked into their numbers, cutting off limbs and shattering bones to the point of lethality with my bullet-dented shield.

I went to slash down, but my blade got caught into the man's chest cavity, so I released the hit and gave a crushing knee to a man's head with a pounce. Unlike when I did the move on Goodwitch, the hundreds of pounds of force broke the man's face and put him down for the count.

With my blade gone, I used my legs and shield as weapons for the remaining numbers until even they were all either knocked out on the ground or dead. I pulled my pistol out of my hoodie's pocket before swiftly executing the downed men so they didn't get back up. The blood-stained blade I pulled from the body of the dead vandal was dull and near useless in the shape it was. As my battle high wore off, I staggered to the side, but caught myself on a blood-splattered car. I took a deep breath before I bent down and pulled up a machine pistol like Mike had from one of the many dead gang members. I pulled out his pockets and found three magazines that would keep me in the fight.

I saw a few blood-stained jewels and stacks of money along with bullets on the ground, so I made my inventory open near the ground by mental command and I kicked them into the storage space as I stumbled to the alley to the parking lot. I could still hear fighting there, so I needed to join back up to make sure no one else died like Payne, Billis, Nichols, or Thorson did.

The battle was still raging strong, I found Junior out with his men, firing an automatic rifle at the gang members who seemed to have multiplied back to full numbers in my twenty minutes away. I took cover with Mike at one of the car, so that I wasn't alone. Judging by the dead Axe Gang bodies littering the place that we took, they had retaken the gained ground. Mike looked over at my arrival and gave me a raised eyebrow before popping back out of cover to fire at a head poking up. Sadly he missed.

"Front is clear for now. We've lost at least nine on that side that I saw." Mike gave me a nod and we peeked out of cover at the same time and unloaded our respective machine pistols at the gang bangers. Our spray caught two, but three more took their place. "They're like bees. They just don't know when to quit, even if it destroys everything," I noted as I fired at them with my new weapon. Their colors were black and yellow which led my comparison to hold more truth.

Mike barked out a laugh as he pulled a grenade out of his satchel of ammo and ripped the pin out of it before throwing it across the lot. A car jump from the shrapnel flinging explosive and a short cry of pain told us he got at least someone with it. "Well, hopefully there is honey at the end of this or I'm going to be even more pissed." I shared the laugh with him even if it was strained.

I killed two more gang members before I had to reload. "Man, and today was starting out so well too," I chuckled harshly at my sarcasm as I used my broken arm to fumblingly pushed a magazine home through the grip. The machine pistol, a dust version of the gun-powdered Uzi, clicked in my hand as it told me it was ready for more fighting. "How are the cops going to explain away this without looking corrupt? I mean, it's been forty minutes."

Mike unloaded his machine pistol, similar to mine, but the magazine went under the barrel instead of in the handle. "I have no idea, but I look forward to being alive long enough to see how they do explain it. Check up," He told me, pointing a hand briefly up to show a news aircraft. "The news have coverage of this the entire time, so they know the police did nothing. Been there since the first five minutes when there was still only about twenty of the bastards."

I shook my head and pulled out my red sunglasses so had my HUD back. The quest had changed to;

**Quest:  
****Hold off the Vandals  
****As long as needed  
****Reward: 45000 experience  
****Failure: Death**

I checked my health and found it was three hundred less due to the bleeding of my arm, but I needed to know how much it was. I diagnosed myself several times before I got the message and saw;

**Severely broken arm – accuracy diminished to 5% with arm. Heals through surgery or over three weeks of little use. Use causes intense pain until healed for two weeks.**

**Gunshot wound, shoulder – Heavy caliber assault rifle round. Accuracy -50% with arm. Extensive tissue damage. Bleeding – 15 HP every 30 seconds for next 5 minutes.**

That would cause the loss of health. I was down to my last magazine as I fired into the hidden crowd. It did nothing, but it kept their heads down. As the gun clicked empty, I leaned back against the car as Mike did the same. I watched him pulled out his magazine and replaced it with a fresh one. "Got any weapons to spare governa?" I asked in a terrible cockney accent, too tired to act properly in a gunfight.

The man reached into his bag and drew out a single-cylinder grenade launcher. I stared at it and back to the bartender, who was turning into dangerous mercenary in my mind, and said, "You had that the whole time?"

The man tossed the launcher at me as he informed me, "You came at the perfect time. We had just drew back, so this is the first time I've had a chance to pull it out. Resupply boys just came around. Check the satchel, it has all the rounds I could get with it. I trust you can figure out how to use it?" Mike gave me a raised eyebrow over the sunglasses he wore. I gulped as I flipped the latch open to see it loaded. I snapped it shut and gave him a confident nod. I could fire any weapon, hitting things was the problem.

I checked through the sight and saw that the block was labeled with distances, so I found the fifty meter line. "Covering," Mike called out and an uproar of gunfire sounded. I took this as the time to go for it and aimed at the gang before squeezing the trigger of the launcher. It gave a solid thump and left a smoke trail from the barrel. In a second, I saw the round impact against one of the gang cars and knocked it slightly back while shredding everything around it. It didn't cause any death, but there was a break of fighting before it picked up again.

I dropped back down and cracked the gun open. The gang was mad that I just fired a high explosive at them, so my cover was being bombarded with automatic fire. "I wouldn't mind being charged with firing weapons like these if the cops would just show up," I laughed out as I pulled the smoking shell before sliding a new forty millimeter round in its place. How I knew what a forty millimeter was, I had no idea.

I quickly straightened my back and fired the grenade across the parking lot and it hit the asphalt between cars, tearing apart multiple people if the flying body parts and screams were anything to follow. My body immediately ducked back down before I had nine holes to breath out of.

Mike checked out his gun and was slapping the side. "You know," he began. "I picked this job for the security it offered." I stared at him with an, 'are you serious' look. The man raised his hand in defense before bringing it down hard on his weapon, a casing popping out of the side, it had been jammed. "Thought with ten armed dude guarding the place, I wouldn't be in any damage. Never thought five years later, I would be in a gunfight that will probably go down in history as one of the worst gang shootings ever."

I laughed and replied to his story with my own. "I just wanted a side job to play for my hunting career. Wanted money in case I ran low on some bullets and what not. Now, I've just spent my entire supply and then more from looting!" Mike gave a slight unhinged laugh with me before raising his gun over the hood and firing at the people. I had finished replacing the grenade, so I rolled along the side of the car to the trunk and fired another round at where I saw a concentration of people.

The explosive did little to injury people as the cars took most of the shrapnel before it could reach them. I slid my way back to Mike to grab another round. I reached in and when I pulled out the forty, I looked in to see that there was no more grenades, just magazines for Mike's gun.

"Last round, any idea where I should put it?" Mike glanced at me before crawling around me to peek through the shattered window.

After a moment, the man told me, "There is a group of seven coming in from the east exit. Get them now!" I stood up and aimed at the exit. I saw the group and pulled the trigger. The grenade left the barrel with the now familiar thump and I felt an impact take me off my feet. I looked down and saw that I got shot in collar bone of my broken arm. I gave a groan as I got back onto my feet, clutching my wound. "Good kill, four are down," Mike told me as he turned back. "And you are shot," the man observed with a deadpanned expression.

I gave him a shaking nod. "No shit. Nothing serious, but this arm is done for awhile." I passed Mike his launcher and he placed it back into his bag. "Shouldn't be too long until the Vandals realize losing over a seven dozen men probably means a defeat and cuts their losses." Mike answered with a nod of his head, eyebrow raised to how his surprise that they were still fighting. "Where did they get this army anyways?!"

With a growl of pain, I shifted my body to lay against the car and pull out my pistol that I stashed in my belt. From my inventory, I drew out the rest of the rounds I had with the pistol, which was nine magazines and stashed them in my pockets. Mike looked at the pistol as he came back down, "You are just an armory ain't you?" I gave him a grin as I aimed through the shattered driver side window before firing at advancing vandals. My kill count steadily raising the more I fired. I rolled back next to Mike as he ducked some bullets. "You know the funny thing?" I glanced over to the man as I squeezed the magazine release on my pistol, jerking the magazine clear so that I could replace it with something useful. "This is my car." I looked at the destroyed car we were against. It was once a normal sedan, but now it was a mess of twisted metal that had more holes than metal on it.

"That is a shame. Well, I know the car I'm going to buy if I ever plan to go to war." This thing had withstood so much gunfire over the past ten minutes that there was no way I wasn't going to grab one as mine if I ever needed a car. I looked around us to see that we had a strong line, but we were stuck in the middle of open ground. "What do you say we get out of here and regroup with Junior?"

"Sounds like a plan, but there is a problem, I can't take bullets like you." I snickered as I grabbed the driver door with my good and with a pull, I took the weak scrap metal off its hinges before reaching into the car, pulling the parking break up and the gear into neutral.

"Okay, I'll push, you shoot." Mike nodded as he pulled his bag over his head. I grabbed the torn frame with my goodish arm and started throwing my shoulder into the car. It didn't have much weight left from losing pieces in the fight and I turned on my overdo, so that we weren't in the open too long. The car started picking up speed until I was pushing it fast enough for it to make ground.

Mike stepped up next to me and was hanging onto the open rear door, firing through the back window at people as we pass the open space. "Brace!" I shouted as we neared the car across the way.

The sedan hit the car and came to a jarring stop. Mike managed to stay on and continued firing until his magazine was dry while I went sprawling for a moment. The car we hit was Junior's cover and the man looked over at his new arrivals with a once over before he went back to firing at the vandals. "Nice work clearing the front long enough for us to get a hold, Arc."

"They came back?" I questioned as I fired at the Vandals across from us.

"In greater numbers too. They are pinned, but they outnumber us too much right now. I've sent in a call for all of the Axe gang, so there is a fire fight along the street too with our boys coming in." The man followed up with a harsh grumble, "Sheriff O'Malley is going to get my foot up his ass for not helping!"

I snickered and shot at some more before a shooting pain went up my arm causing me to drop back to cover. I checked the limb and saw a bullet embedded an inch into my arm. Ricochet. I gave a growl at the wound and turned to Junior, "You got a pocket knife?" The man looked up from reloading and flipped one to me without a word.

I snapped it open and with gritted teeth, I dug out the bullet in my arm with the blade. With a painful flick of my fingers, the bullet popped out, letting the blood flow free. I pulled off my hoodie and shirt, leaving me bareback. I grabbed my shirt and used the knife and my wounded arm to rip it into strips. I tightly bandaged my arm, shoulder, and collarbone bullet wounds to stop the bleeding before I passed out. I was already light-headed from the blood loss, so I needed to stop it now. "Remind me to give you a raise if we survive this, Mike, Arc," Junior told us while I fixed up my bullet holes.

Once the bandages were in place, I shrugged back on my blood-stained hoodie and primed my weapon for another go. "Don't worry. I will never not stop bitching about this," Mike replied as he fired at the vandals before his gun clicked. "Dry and out." The machine pistol was dropped to the ground in a clatter of useless metal as Mike dropped back into cover.

Bullets slammed into our car, well the hood as the front was against the wall, as the Vandals tried to kill us. I bounced my head off the car door and stared forward, trying to force myself to pop back up and most likely take another bullet. It was a good thing I didn't because, from the alley I came down, I saw a man sprinting at us wearing yellow and black.

I leveled my pistol in my loose grip and fired four rounds at the man. Ever impact made him jerk until he stumbled to his stomach, dead on the ground. I sighed before a thought came to my head. "Guys, if a little kid were to call the cops, trapped in the crossfire of two gangs fighting a small war, begging for help, would the police come?" I asked aloud.

Junior started to shake his head until he froze with a wide stare. After a tick, he gave a booming laugh and answered, "Do it, it couldn't hurt!"

I grinned at the man as I pulled out my scroll and carefully dialed 911. "Watch the alley, they're starting to get through," I told Mike as I handed him my pistol. He gave a curt nod as he leveled the gun at the alley. Lifting the phone to my ear, I heard it ringing until someone picked up. "Hello?!" I gave a desperate cry into the receiver. My acting skills lighting up with use.

"This is the Vale police department, what is your emergency?" I heard reply.

"I'm stuck in a parking lot and these bad men are shooting each other!" I cried into the mic, shifting my voice into a scared child's. "Everyone's getting sho-" I had to break off as a grenade detonated to my right. I looked over and saw three of the seven Axe members fly back with limbs missing. "They're blowing each other up! Help me! I'm at 145 Fairforest way, district 8! There's this news bird overhead, come quickl-" I would have continued but I felt a sharp pain in my hand and ear as a bullet passed through the hood. "Ahhh!" I cried as I dropped my phone, clutching my hand in my right's grasp.

I stared at the injured part and saw that I was missing the top third, just below the top knuckle, of my ring finger. "Oh c'mon!" I shouted in delirium. "That's my finger!" It was now about the size of my pinky finger, almost even really, but a bit below.

"You also have a slight dent in your ear," Junior helpfully pointed out. I gave a throaty growl as I picked my phone back up, hanging up on the police. "At least your scroll is okay. Send a message if you want." I sadly nodded as the back was getting coated in blood as I brought the camera up to check the damage to my ear. It was thankfully almost not there, just a little clipping in the middle that would heal fine.

I grabbed some of the remaining scraps of my torn shirt and tightly bandaged my hand. "Today is not the day for my left arm," I jokingly commented as I looked at the expertly tied bandages. My first-aid skills were getting a good workout today though.

Mike returned my gun to me and I stared at it blankly as I took it. It hit me then that there is a strong possibility that I was going to die here. Junior was onto something. I spun my scroll in my hand and opened up my email. "I need to send my friend a farewell if I die. Mom will know, but she won't," I told the two around me as I rapidly typed out words with my right hand.

_Dear Milos,_

_I am currently in a gunfight with a fairly large group of people that are trying their damnedest to end my life. I'm pinned with my boss and bar tending friend behind a shitty car in front of our shot up club. I'm low on bullets for my pistol and I am most likely going to die any moment now. Thanks for being my friend in these months, It's been great talking with you._

_Jaune Arc (Luka Outcast)_

I sent the message away before tossing my scroll into my inventory, ten seconds passing. A bullet punched through the door next to me, nearly taking down Mike. "Guys, we need to get back into the club. This car is not going to hold."

Mike grunted out, "I agree, however there is a slight problem of the door being over there and..." The man looked around, "we seem to be the last ones alive in this lot." I checked around and saw the four that were still standing were now on the ground with holes in their bodies.

I was silent for a moment before I came up with a plan. "Okay... I'll crawl over the cars along the wall. Try to get to their side and distract them. If I get over there, make a break for the club." Junior and Mike gave a nod, if a bit slow. They knew this was a one way thing, I knew it too. But I couldn't let these two die.

"You were only here for a short while, but you are one of my best employees, make it through this because I do not want to see a fellow guard die." I gave Junior a smile as I crawled around to his side and quickly dove headfirst over the hood. I fell to the pavement on the other side of the car with a thud that was masked by the constant gunfire.

It was twenty cars between me and the gang, so I had to take this slow, but fast enough so that the people I was helping didn't die before I got there. With my broken arm, it was hard to crawl, but crawl I did. Many of the cars were high enough off the ground that I could squeeze under them. Gods love the gangsters that thought large trucks were the way to look 'pimp.' The longer I crawls, the less I could hear due to the roaring gunfire. Even under the cover of heavy gunfire, I kept my stealth on just in case they had Faunus in their numbers.

As I was under an SUV, legs appeared in front of me, their body braced against the car I was under. Seeing that I was there, I pressed my head to the pavement before checking that I had a full magazine and one in the chamber. I had eight rounds with a broken arm that was lacking in fine mobility. I would need to grab a gun from this guy to continue the fight.

With a puff of air, I spun myself to the side before rolling from under the car. I aimed up and the man's face showed surprise before it exploded in a mess of gore. I was moving as I fired, so while on my knees, I caught the torso and spun him around so that he was between me and his friends.

I raised the gun under his armpit and used my HUD for just that little bit of precise firing, taking out a man with every round, if not immediately lethal. As my gun clicked empty, I threw it to the side and groped for the pistol in the man's belt. As my hand closed on the firearm, bullets started slamming into the man's back, but he must have been wearing armor, as they didn't all the way through.

Once the gun was free, I unloaded the entire dust magazine, thirteen rounds in total at everyone that I could see. In the frenzy of gunfire, I felt many grazing wounds and small hits that stopped in my muscles from bullets that penetrated my cover.

I battled through the increasingly intense pains as I killed and killed some more. When the pistol was empty, I grabbed the machine pistol he had and used it on his remaining friends. As the gun clicked empty, I felt something explode in front of me. The concussive force sent me flying back and slam into the concrete wall that bordered our parking lot. I had just gotten hit by a grenade.

My body wouldn't respond to my commands to get up, to fight, to protect my comrades. All it did was lay against the wall, head lulled on my shoulder, staring blankly at the fighting force. My askew glasses told me that I had **417/4326 HP**. I hoped Junior and Mike had made it to the club as I saw my health creeping down from the bleeding from the many wounds I had all over my body.

From my head's position, I was able to look down at my lap to see the man I had used as soft cover. His back was a mess of shrapnel and bullet wounds from the short time I was behind him. It was only by the graces of the gods that I was kneeling at the time the grenade went off, so it was only the force that sent me backwards, my cover did a magnificent job keeping the metal chunks from shredding me apart.

Suddenly, I felt myself blink and feeling slowly return to my limbs. "**Status effect – "Paralyzing Stun" has wore off.**" Flashed in front of my vision. I gave a growl as I opened my menu and brought out my blade. In a burst of motion, the body was off me and I was charging at the gang members. "DIE!" I screamed as I sliced one of their heads off. Before the head was on the ground, I had activated my overdo once more and lunged to the next person, impaling him on my dull blade, spinning around so that the burst of bullets I knew was coming from my danger sense were caught with the body. Even with my low health, I didn't slow. If I was dying, they were too!

I dragged the body forward with me as it was being hit by the pistol rounds. With a kick, I sent the corpse into the guy and ran after it. The pair hit the ground and my long sword pierced the dead man into the chest of the living comrade.

I didn't waste anytime picking up one of the firearms with my mutilated hand and unload the magazine into the gang members' bodies. They were starting to panic as the "Dead" guy had come back and was tearing them apart with a sword.

As the eighth man fell to my blade, I heard, "Retreat! Retreat!" come from one of the gang member's mouths. My head whipped around to the one who ordered the retreat and saw the man whore that I pinned the note above. I couldn't even remember the guy's name. With a forward roll, I scooped up a dropped machine pistol and fired the entire thirty round magazine into the man. My overdoing skill helping my focus and aim in my damaged state.

The man was riddled with bloody holes as he fell backwards to the pavement. This was the last straw and the men of the lot fled towards one of the three exits. I didn't let up and cut apart anyone I could reach. When the last man was clear of the lot, I saw a window flash open.

**Quest Complete:  
****Reward: 45000 experience, pay raise, Title [Defender – 25% percent increase to stats while defending a building] [War Fighter – 25% damage to creatures in factions, includes grimms]**

Along with that window was a ton of messages and I even leveled up to level twenty-nine, three levels from the endless fighting. The fact I survived against odds that should have killed me boosted my LUK stat to twenty-eight. I couldn't keep the small smirk off my face as I dropped my chipping longsword and sat on the dead leader that I chopped up with gunfire. The blood stained my pants, but I was coated in enough of the stuff not to care. My health was slowing to a stop, but with a few berries, I had just enough not to die.

Next to the man was a thick blade, a newer style of a Gladius blade if I wasn't mistaken and a large stack of lien. The blade looked about four inches shorter than my longsword. I opened an inventory at my feet and kicked the person's loot into my storage area. The blade would come in handy for when I had to track things through the jungle. My blade was not suited for forest warfare, and if the damage and speed output was agreeable, I would use it over the longsword as the durability would be higher.

I heard gunfire tamper off out front as I mentally manipulated my menu, replacing my title with War Fighter since it categorized grimm as a faction. With the fighting over, I could treat my wounds better than what I did.

After struggling out of my hoodie again, I checked the front to see that it was littered with holes. A glance at my chest showed seven bullet wounds, four of which I could see the bullet stuck most of the way in.

I reached down and patted the pockets of my seat until I found junior's pocket knife in my pocket. Flipping it open, I cleaned it off on my pants before popping the bullets I could see, out of my body. I was technically doing first aid, so my health didn't fall anymore from the 61 it was at. "I really shouldn't be this calm about getting bullets out of myself," I noted aloud to myself as the last bullet wound was clear, letting my blood slowly ooze down my torso. I pushed the skin around with the last ones and was able to extract them with a little agonizing digging and deep breaths.

As the Axe gang started to come forward, celebrating slash crying, I saw police cruisers flow into the lot with sirens blaring. I didn't feel like dealing with the court system. I really didn't. As movement screamed all around me, I just placed my head into my hands as I sat on the corpse of the gang leader.

I saw someone sit to my right and when I looked over, a bloodstained Mike was smoking a cigarette next to me. "Finely done, Arc. I think... I think you'll not be in that play today," Mike told me around his death stick.

"You hit Mike?" I asked the man tiredly, the blood loss taking its toll now that I had time to rest. The man shook his head and offered me a cigarette. I took one and he lit it absently. I took a puff and was able to hold in my cough as I absently watched the police work. I analyzed the stick and it came up with this window.

**Tobacco Cigarette, Vale's Dream  
****Effects: -3 VIT and relaxing effect for 30 minutes  
****Stacks with Tobacco products**

I didn't care about the debuff as it was only for a short amount of time and I wasn't going anywhere for the next while. The cops kept glancing our way, but we were unarmed, I was injured to the point of critical, and we were in the right with our actions, so they couldn't do anything. They seemed not to even care that i was critically hurt as I was just sitting down on a dead body. There were no paramedics either for whatever reason too, so no one was fussing over the wounded.

"So... we won that..." I commented as I watched the police tape off the area. Mike nodded and held up a closed fist towards me. I gave a chuckle as I tapped my knuckles against his with my good hand. "What's the number of causalities?"

"It would seem that only five people in the back survived along with Junior, you, and me. It will be a long time before the Axe gang can recover from this hit, but with Altriz," Mike punched the man I was sitting on, "Dead along with the dozens if not hundred of people we killed, the Vandals are done in Vale."

I just gave a chuckle as I shook my head at the ground, knocking the ashes off my cigarette. "You think we'll be charged with mass murder for this? Or would self-defense still work in our favor?"

"They better give us self-defense! We didn't do anything illegal. Even that M79 was legal as I'm a retired Vale soldier and it's mine. I have a license to own those kind of weapons." So that was where he got his training. The older man suddenly snickered, "This was worse than any battle I was ever stuck in and I fought in the Faunus War."

I snickered too when I heard this and leaned back to look at the sky. After the cigarette burned out, I flicked the butt down next to me before pushing myself back to my feet. "I need to find my pistol and sword, I'll be right back." Mike gave a nod as he stayed where he was.

My sword was easy to find, so I just picked that up and placed it against my shoulder. My pistol was a different question as it was moved by the grenade. With a sigh, I dropped to my knees and looked under the vehicles. The pistol was against the wall beneath one of the cars. Retrieving it hurt, but I was happy that I had my pistol back in my waistband.

The police stood clear of me as I staggered back to my seat, subtly kicking things into my inventory as I passed them. I needed ammo and the bricks of munitions that they dropped were going to go a long way in resupplying me. Once back, I grabbed my blood-soaked hoodie and checked it over. The amount of blood was semi-fixable, but it had many holes, graze marks, tears, and burns all over the back. I just tossed it away as it was useless to wear anymore.

"You know you have a hole on the upper part of your ear, right?" Mike informed me. I reached up without a care to check and then pulled out the bloody pocket knife. Wiping it on the corpse, I brought it up and checked my ear out as I pulled on it. The upper half had a dime sized nick on top from where the bullet had hit in my last stand. It enlarged the dent that took my finger off. "What are the odds of it hitting the same place?" It wouldn't be healing shut either, so that was another wound to add to the collection.

I sat with Mike, watching the clean up for the next three hours until it was over. The police had asked our side of the story, so I told them that I got the call that I was needed to defend my co-workers until the police could arrive, which I did. Mike had the same story, but he was able to get there before the attack had started.

The police wrote down what we said and we were let go with the knowledge that we might be called in to repeat our stories. Now that I had permission to leave, I walked out the front and found my way through the blood-splattered streets to an alleyway just before the police blockade. I found my bike alone, so I took a shirt out of my inventory, a simple black long sleeved one and hopped on the bike. The Night Rod had a horrible dent on the handlebars, but I could fix that later, the rest was completely fine with running over two people.

Once I had my helmet on my head, I rode off back to my apartment for a power nap before my play. It was in three hours and I'm a needed element, I couldn't just let everyone down because of a dozen bullets! They didn't deserve that, people came to the shows to recruit hopeful actors and actresses. If I cost one of my classmates a great future, how would I live with myself? They were relying on me and who was I to just shove that aside because I was a little hurt.

* * *

**So, funny thing, not haha funny, just funny. **

**I got near second degree burns all up my body, face neck and arms, due to the doctors not telling me my medicine, oh and I can blame them because the nurse told us, "Don't bother checking the side effects, there are a million of them but are just meant for people taking it long term" One of which was an immediate effect that made me so much more sensitive to the sun. Then I spent a day outside in one hundred degree weather. It was bad, I'm talking shirt grazing made me want to cry bad**

**They didn't want me going through the surgery with my body fixing the burns so I could recover all that much faster. Something about not wanting my body healing two fronts. So, it was rescheduled to October. Sorry to worry everyone, but I'm fit to keep writing and posting until the 12th. Man, I'm going to e recovering on halloween too. There goes my costume ideas.**

**Thank you all so much for the well wishes too, it does help that I know so many of you care. I'll see about getting up to chapter... 16 I think is what I have edited right now, up before October.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Yo! Here's another chapter for y'all.**

* * *

Back at the apartment, I hopped into my shower to wash the blood off my body. It took over a half hour to do this, but it felt so nice to soothe my sore muscles with the warm water. My wounds had stopped bleeding on the way over, so I was able to take the bandages off and once I was dry, I took my time with patching my body up instead of shirt medicine.

It took an entire medical pack, but my wounds were sealed and my arm was set correctly, which hurt like a whore. The limb was black and blue from the break and impacts it suffered, while my finger was obviously missing the top part, so I placed it into a sling.

I opened my scroll to set the time and was bombarded with email notifications.

"_Luka, Pick up!_" "Luka, Answer me!" "_Jaune?_" They were all from Milos after my battle, but there was one that just appeared.

_Jaune, Please reply back! Are you okay?! Was it that fight with the Vale Vandals that's all over the news over hear? It's over but their saying a lot of people are dead on the defending side. Are you still here? Please answer me._

I gave a small frown at how upset she sounded. I opened the scroll, fumbling when it almost slid through my absent finger.

_Dear Milos,_

_I'm not alright per say. But I am here now and back in my apartment. I got shot a few times, missing part of my finger and ear, but I'm safe now. It was with the Vandals, but I made sure to take out their leader so they couldn't hurt anyone again. If you have the news coverage, I'm the blond maniac with the sword and shield that got blown up near the end of the fight. So... I guess I'll write you later, I got to go to my next performance. I'll send you the video of it Monday._

_Jaune Arc_

I sent the message out and put a timer on my scroll for half an hour. Once the timer took, I was curled up in my bed, snoring away the minutes until I had to get to the play.

I arrived at the play with twenty minutes to spare. The costume and makeup artist took one look at my disheveled state and bed head before almost chucked me across the room into the chair to get my beard and robes on, my ear was noted by the person, but a glare made him stay silent.

I hissed when one of them touched my broken arm and they flinched back, "My arm's shattered, please refrain from touching it," I gently informed them as I tried to keep the pain out of my voice. On the note of pain, everything hurts enough that I could almost cry, but I was use to being sore from exercise, so this was only ten steps up. I could sort of take it.

I made sure my arm was propped up most of the show with my hand inside the robe so no one questioned the finger loss during the show, it would throw them off. It was slightly hard to do everything with one hand, but with how painful moving was, I made a convincing old man.

The show ended the same way and after the beard was off, I didn't wait around for anyone before going home. I was tired, in pain from still open wounds, and distressed from the loss of one of my fingers, I just wanted to sleep. However, before I went to sleep, I had to check my email since a message was blasting in my helmet the entire way up.

_Jaune,_

_Thank Dust that you're alive. I... I don't know what to say after seeing that fight. It's all over the news. It's aweful and terrible. Are you really okay? You got hit by a grenade! Once I got past the deathing part, I could see that you were a great fighter. The resolition wasn't that good, but I did see the larger movements and it looked like you were inproving. I hope you make a complete recovery._

_Milos_

The rest of the weekend went off without a hitch. I had to play two shows Sunday, but that was fine. I was getting use to not having part of my finger, so I no longer fumbled things anymore. It could have been worse. After looking it over, I believed that a ring would still fit, so all was fine if I ever did find someone desperate and lonely enough to marry me.

Speaking of futures, someone approached Robby with a gig on a television show for his performance as the hero after the end show. The boy, of course, accepted the offer and was floating on cloud nine for the rest of the time we were behind stage.

No one found out about my involvement in the, "Vandal's War" as the media called it. I didn't see anything on the lack of police, so they obviously were being bribed not to say anything about it besides the needed part, because the media should have been all over the fact that one hundred and forty-three people died in the streets over the course of an hour and no cops helped. Twenty-nine of those were our own and the rest were the vandals.

Junior was able to buy a copy of the entire battle from the news station so that he could watch the battle that killed one of his biggest rivals as much as he wanted. I paid Junior for a copy so I could see my performance and know where I had to tweak it for the next time I fought.

My opening was strong, I took them by surprise. The two never got back up from the hits due to the speed I was going at. The assault rifle strafe was well-timed, if reckless, which allowed me to get to the alley way. The surprise let the front get suppressing fire on the Vandals. The newsman's commentary as they watched was amazingly funny to me for some reason. "D-did that guy just hit people with his motorbike?" "Oh my god, he's killing them!"

My fight in the back was desperate, disorienting, and dangerous. The explosion was from an RPG, but apparently Junior had one of his own as the rocketeer was made into a smear while I was bouncing off cars. Once I was in, it slowed back down to cover based combat, but we slowly had lost ground when the vandal's gained their leader.

My fight out front with the sword was summed up in one word, Reckless. It was stupid to go out there in their numbers. I could have been easily shot if not for the panic that it caused, but the job was done and the cameras didn't pick up what I did to the loot, it looked like I was just stumbling around towards the alley. The loot really didn't show up at all now that I looked at it. Maybe the remaining money would be there when I got back tomorrow?

The parking lot skirmish was by far the longest point and it hurt to see the bullets hit me. "How is that guy still moving?" The grenades were not that well-placed except for the last one and I wasted a lot of bullets trying to hit things, more than it should have taken. The fight that broke the line was painful to watch as he recorded each and every hit I took. It reminded me of the pain I didn't feel, causing it to flare up in my mind, even if I hadn't felt the bullets in its entirety during the battle. I had no idea how I survived the grenade since it was literally against my cover. The end was an alright execution, but I could have done it quieter to not draw attention until I was ready,

I rubbed my eyes as I went to bed for the day, having worked out extra hard to get the feel for the Gladius. It was a special one too, with a black blade that was shorter than my longsword, but had a thicker body even with the blade being extremely sharp.

**Nox – A Gladius held by an unknown assassin that was used in the dead of night to eliminate targets and to fight for an opening to get away with the hits  
****18000/18000  
****50 Bladed  
****Special: Does not shine**

It was an outstanding blade and was sharp enough to fell trees if I swung hard enough. The range would take some getting use to, but the balance was amazing, a truly expertly crafted blade. I would have to go back when my arm was healed so that I could get the shield into play, but until then, I would work out my legs some more and do longer runs to work everything out.

Riding my bike with a broken arm was painful as I actually had to use the arm. It was slowly feeling better, inch by inch in the mile that was there, but it was no where near easy to use. With my skill in the bike though, I was able to work around the arm and drive it to school.

Once I was on my way to school, I pulled the arm into my suit jacket and let it rest in the sling I had rigged against my shirt. My first class was art, but I was already done, so I just spent the day learning more Tibetan, which was I proud to say that I had gotten to level forty in the language within the month of working on it. I didn't plan to max it out like I was with Greek or the other major languages since I wasn't going to use it much, but that didn't stop me from studying it for more than eight hours a day.

I managed one more level in the language before class ended and made my way to Greek where I would learn another bit into my new language. I hoped I got another level by the end of the day, but it didn't seem likely to come to pass. People gave me looks for having a sling, but no one was confident enough to confront me on it. I think it's how I had wore a fine suit for this semester, though they were giving me a much wider berth than normal today. Must be the ear.

Greek passed fine and I learned more complex phrases in Tibetan along with reading an English to Tibetan dictionary which was a quest in itself to find.

I just went through the motions of being in class, but I was not paying the least bit of attention other than to take the tests they handed out. It was mind numbing and I could be using my time for so much more, but if I wanted to get into beacon, I had to pass with flying colors which I was currently doing even if I didn't pay attention.

It was in Health class that I learned why people were avoiding me today. I had finally tuned into the lesson, but with that, I tuned into the gossip of my classmates too. "Didn't you hear? He was the one with the sword," a girl to the side of the room whispered not so quietly to her friend.

"Arc?" I heard the reply and I guess the person nodded as I didn't pick my head up from where I was doing my work in Tibetan. "Wow, I knew he had killed someone, but to be part of that. Wow." I frowned into my scroll before snapping it shut, done with my lesson and opted to just take a nap.

I couldn't keep a grumble out of my head as I settled down, 'Of course they would find out. Man, at least schools almost done.' As I got comfortable, I had to make note, 'I need a new set of suits soon too. These are getting too small. That's going to be a couple thousand lien if I want the same material too. I'll start saving tomorrow. Five hundred a week should work out and I'll hold off until I really need it.'

I was tempted to just skip the last class and go train, but it was drama, so I pushed through the desire to leave. Equipped with the knowledge of the rumors, I could now see the hint of fear in the student body as I walked through the hall. 'An hour and a half, then I can run to my heart's content. Deal with it."

I found my position in the back of the room where I slumped in my chair before falling asleep. It was an improv day, so I would have to participate in class, so I got my rest where I could. Today's improv was being dishes that wanted to be used. It was weird and I didn't care enough to put too much effort into it.

School let out and I allowed the rush for the buses to finish as I packed up the one thing I took out for the day, my bullet. Miss Garza's voice echoed the empty room as I shouldered my bag, "M-mister Arc, please stay after." I looked over at the woman to see her fiddling with her hands, a nervous tick of hers. I nodded and walked over to her desk as the last of the students filtered out of the room.

The teacher followed them to the door and shut it behind them. A click ringed across the room as the lock was set into place. Without turning, Garza asked, "Is it true that you were in that gang war when I called you?"

I gave a nod even if she couldn't see it. "Yeah, sorry for hanging up on you, but I took a round through the shoulder and needed to focus," I told her as I leaned on her desk.

She twisted around and I saw that she looked worried, "Are you alright?! Is that why your arm is in that sling?"

I shook my head with a rueful smile, "I wish. No, I got blown up and sent through an SUV for the arm. Also had my finger shot off and collar broken by a bullet. The sling is to help those heal up." I snickered as I gave her a brief wave with my bandaged hand.

The older woman gasped when she saw the missing finger and seemed to examine my body for anymore wounds, finding the lack of part of my ear. "I'm fine now ma'am," I laughed. "I heal up quickly except for my arm, which will take another two weeks due to using it as a cushion for bouncing off a car."

She looked even more worried, but she reluctantly nodded. "Well, if that's everything, I got to get to my training. If I'm going to master the blade enough to get into Beacon, there can be no breaks." I passed her and exited the room.

My training for that day was boring, since it was basically extreme squats and interval running which sucked. My legs were dead by the time I rolled up to the parking lot of Junior's club. The lot was cleaned from all the blood, but there was still rubble and holes from the explosives and some cars that had not yet been moved.

My theory was correct and loot pocketed the area, so I quickly gathered it all before going in for my shift. I gained over thirty thousand lien, five hundred dust bullets of all kinds of calibers, and a bucket load of jewelry. Well, the drops aren't seen by other people nor tangible as everything was where it was, regardless of who treaded on it. That was nice for later pick up.

Once all the loot had been collected, I entered the club to see that Junior was sitting at the bar with Mike, sipping on a whiskey as hired helped stood guard around the dancing youth that braved the fact they were in a place where a hundred men were killed. I sighed at the stupidity as I slid my fedora onto my blond hair and pushed my red-tinted sunglasses to my eyes.

I sat down a seat away from Junior and ordered a whiskey before my shift to kick start my brain from a mind deadening day. As I sipped on the alcohol, I heard, "Arc, you and Mike got a five lien pay raise for yesterday. Just letting you know that I remembered." I nodded into my liquor at his words. The extra money was welcome, if not too needed. The thirty thousand I picked up from the ground outside was all the money I needed for rent in an entire year. I was going to deposit it into the bank and promptly forget its existence until I needed to pay rent.

Once I finished my drink, I had five minutes until the club opened, so I checked around to see who was making up the guard duty for today. It was a sad sight as most looked like thugs off the streets given suits. They were fidgeting and looked uncomfortable. Terrible that I used to look like that, but I'd like to think cleaner. "So these are the new guards?" I commented aloud as I looked over everyone. "They look more awkward than I feel and I'm an outcasted teenager with parental issues."

Junior chuckled and added, "At least in time, you looked like you are use to the suit. These people have been in my pay for over a year with my shipping operations." Weird how they had yet to adapt to a suit. I got off my bar stool and walked over to stand by the dining area, my position of the week.

The day and the coming weeks went off without a hitch. My arm healed fully and I could do one-armed chin ups if I so pleased once more. People saw that I was missing a finger, but with my new status as a sword swinging maniac, no one talked to me and I, them.

My freshman year ended finally and I was out of the school like a rocket, ready to do more jobs the coming days. Once I had use of my arm again, I went on two requests, but that was it. With summer here, I was finally going to do enough to get to the needed one hundred E classed jobs to qualify for D! If I could just get my bike outside of the city, I could ride it to the towns and get so many jobs done! To bad that I could only put a max of four hundred and thirty-two pounds into the storage. An outrageous number, but my bike weighed seven hundred pounds. I could sink all my points into STR and get there, but that would be stupid as I was an agile based fighter mixed with some tanking, so DEX was a priority even if it was the lowest combat stat due to lack of speed drill training.

Ever since I got my new suit set a week ago, I wore heavy form-fitting plated pads underneath my shirt at all times. The weight helped me train to move faster yes, but it was there so if I took a shot to the chest, it wouldn't almost kill me like the nine I took last month.. The armor was about forty pound and covered my entire torso, cutting off at the sleeves. I bought suits big enough to hide the armor and when I looked in the mirror, I just looked like I had a weight-lifter's body type instead of the balanced one I had.

The weight threw me off while training, but it helped my dexterity, so I didn't complain. My suits were not too expensive, just a thousand for a cheap set that was still up to my standards. Once I finished my growth spurt of the year, I would buy another set to wear for next year that was made of the right materials for defense. These were made of a simple material like the one that I was given in the beginning of my career as a club guard as not to waste money.

The club was doing fine in the month that passed. The Axe gang had gotten a few more numbers and there had been no attempts to challenge their power after the massacre. I had to be the bouncer a good number of weeks due to no one tough enough to replace Payne, but past that, Junior's club moved on quickly with everything returning to status quo.

It was stressful in the first few weeks, but after the new guards were put in their place by Junior and Mike that they had an image to uphold now, the thugs were slowly turning into presentable people. It was a challenge to keep them from being distracted by the flirty women, but it was working, if only a little. I never had that problem because I am not an attractive fellow, so no one bothered me while I'm working.

The next morning, I awoke early and quickly drove down to the hunting office to grab a construction job for the day. There was one fifty miles out by the southern outpost, they needed help making a house for a farm that was just hit by grimm. The grimms were killed by a team of hunters from Beacon, the upperclassmen were allowed to do jobs up to high B rank, but they couldn't stick around to rebuild what was broken.

I accepted it and gave a sigh as I took my card back from the terminal. "What's the matter little huntsman?" I heard a male voice ask behind me say. Glancing back, I saw a grey-haired man with a cane in hand, sipping on coffee from a mug. A distinctive green scarf was around his neck.

"Um, nothing sir, just annoyed that I can't drive yet and need to run fifty miles down the highway to..." I looked at the quest I got from the job. "Denplaza."

The man hummed into his coffee, "That would be annoying, yet I see you have a helmet under your arm there for the motorcycle you rode in one."

I stared blankly at him and he returned my stare. "I can't legally drive," I bluntly put as I slid my helmet back over my head, my HUD flashing to life in front of my vision. "A checkpoint would ask for my licenses. One look at the age and I would be brought in."

The buckles on my helmet clicked as I spoke. "See you around, sir. Happy hunting." I walked out of the office, but I could feel the man's eyes burn on my back. I revved my engine to life and calmly drove off to a parking garage in the southern district by the gate.

I gave a groan as I exited the checkpoint and picked up running down the rode at my top speed. It was higher than it was when I started gym by a good deal. It was a base of twenty plus one hundred and forty-two percent. With the speed I sprinted at, I arrived at the town in little over an hour and a half.

The job was simple, even if it took most of my morning and evening. At four, I was done setting up the foundation and outer walls, the part I was conscripted for, as well as killed a pack of starving beowolves that didn't understand that they didn't have the strength to tangle with even someone like me.

With my skin coated in sweat and grime, I took off to get to the city long enough to get a shower before work. It was a hard run after working all day, but I managed to get there in the same amount of time that I arrived at the town, so I had enough time to zip home, clean up, and make it to the club for when it opened.

This schedule persisted well into the summer, even by the end of the break, I hadn't broken this habit. The only change was the visits to mom like I did every weekend I could. I was thankful that mom was off on a job when the skirmish happened, so she hadn't heard anything of it, which was how I was going to keep things.

I kept in contact with Milos, but our messages slowly stopped until there was only a few emails a month. I was busy with work and she was going through grueling training that demanded her entire attention. It was sad that I was losing contact with her, but I was happy that she was getting close to her dreams of being a huntress and a champion of the tournaments.

I never had time to solely train much, but I got my fighting training with live combat. My lifting was building houses, my stamina was doing everything without a break which was a grueling task that was almost worse than my workouts. By the time school was coming around, my stats were much improved then when I started, but due to the high levels and how utterly stingy I was with the points, they hadn't had major leaps.

**Name: Jaune Arc  
****Level: 30  
****Next level: 8%  
****Title: Warfighter  
****HP: 3260  
****MP: 2200 + 60%  
****STR: 122  
****VIT: 143  
****DEX: 117  
****INT: 90  
****WIS: 69  
****LUK: 28  
****Points: 71**

I was fifteen finally, so next summer I would be legally driving which would be great even if I hadn't been pulled over yet, it was only just a matter of time. Looking at my stats now, I added one point to my WIS just to even out everything. It was like setting the volume on a television, it wasn't a big deal, but you just want it equal, and that how I was with my points. It was fine at an even number, but now that it was odd again, I couldn't take it.

My skills had also taken a boost, if not to the level I was hoping. I opened my skills menu on a whim and checked up on where I was at as I relaxed on my bed after a day of guarding the club.

**Gamer's Body (Passive)** – Max  
**Gamer's Mind (Passive)** – Max

**Perception**

**Analyze (Active):** level 64 - Observing objects, situations, and persons allows the user to quickly gather information. The higher the skill, the greater the data obtained!  
**Insight (Active)**: level 33 – Find the true motives and mood of people. More details on higher level people as levels are gained  
**Sense Danger (Passive/ Active):** level 21 - Allows user to sense when something bad might happen! Gives location of the danger up to fifty meters up to fifty meters. Active: 1 mp every 21 seconds, increases range by two hundred meters, more direct location of danger

**Affiliations:**

**Strength Affiliation** **(Passive)**: Level MAX - +50% melee damage, +50% lifting strength,+50% inventory limit  
**Vitality Affiliation** **(Passive)**: Level MAX - +100% stamina, +100% stamina regeneration  
**Dexterity Affiliation (Passive):** Level 8 - +40% coordination, +40% base speed  
**Intelligence Affiliation** **(Passive)**: Level 7 - +70% Mana points, +70% Mana Regen  
**Wisdom Affiliation** **(Passive)**: Level 2 - -10% of mana usage

**Resistance:**

**Physical Endurance** **(Passive):** level 23 - Ability to endure and negate physical damage. -46% physical damage  
**Fire Endurance (Passive):** Level 4 – ability to endure the heat of fire. -8% fire damage  
**Frost Endurance (Passive):** Level 20 – ability to endure the cold of ice. -40% frost damage

**Medicine:**

**Diagnosis (Passive):** level 2 - The ability to identify an injury or disease before attempting a cure. 20% chance of diagnosing an injury, 10% chance of diagnosing disease with a glance at symptoms  
**First-Aid (Passive):** Level 3 – Fix up small wounds or fractured bones. +30% speed at healing basic injuries, +30% more health gain from healing

**Firearms:**

**Pistol Mastery (Passive):** level 12 - Use of a pistol. +60% damage and accuracy  
**Rifle Mastery (Passive): **level 8 - Use of Rifle. +40% damage and accuracy  
**Sniper Mastery (Passive):** level 4 - Use of scoped weapons. +20% damage and accuracy. +12% steadiness  
**Shotgun Mastery (Passive): **Level 1 – Use of shotgun. +5% damage and accuracy  
**Launcher mastery (Passive):** level 3 – Use of launchers, RPG to 40mm. +15% damage and accuracy.

**Explosives:**

**Throw (Passive):** Level 10 – Ability to throw an object which can be lifted. +20% accuracy with thrown object

**Basic Combat:**

**Dodge (Passive)**: level 50 – ability to get out of the way  
**Block (Passive)**: level 31 – The ability to block a hit. -62% force from blocked strikes to shield.  
**Parry (Passive)**: level 7 – The ability to redirect a strike  
**Overdo (Active):** level 4 - The ability to go past your normal limits in desperate situations, + 40% to physical stats, 1% of MP every second

**Blade Combat:**

**Sword Mastery (Passive): **level 63 - The ability to effectively use swords in combat. +315% damage with swords, +315% speed with swords  
**Valian Sword Style (Passive): **Level 37 – Ability to use the Valian sword fighting style effectively, use heavy strikes and hard blocks to fight. +74% damage to sword strikes, +74% damage with shield bash.  
**Spartan Sword Style (Passive):** Level 41 – Ability to use Spartan sword fighting style effectively, uses accurate strikes mixed with agility to strike while blocking any attacks with shield. +82% speed to strikes, +82% accuracy of strikes, +82% dodging speed

**Unarmed combat**

**Hand to Hand (Passive): **level 60 - Fighting without weapons. +300% damage with body, +300% speed with body in combat. Augments all aspects of combat.  
**Boxing (Passive):** Level 41 – Ability to fight as a Boxer. +82% damage punches deal, +82% speed of punches, +82% better footwork  
**Muay Thai (Passive): **Level 34 – Combat Sport that uses stand-up striking with various clinching techniques. +68% more striking power, +68% better grappling, +68% speed of strikes

**Weapon Preparation:**

**Sharpening (Passive):** level 7 – Sharpening a blade to a fine edge. +60% damage for the first ten attacks, blade keeps edge for 60% longer  
**Reloading (Passive):** level 4 – ability to make bullets, +12% more damage from bullets made

**Movement:**

**Stealth (Passive/ Active)**: Level 15 – Ability to sneak around without being seen or heard. +66% quieter everything, -76% smell. Active, +86% quieter everything. Scent is eliminated, 12 MP every 10 seconds  
**Free-Running(Passive/ Active)**: level 53 – Ability to move with greater speed and agility over and on obstacles. +116% base running speed, +25% fall damage reduction. 6 MP every 10 seconds,+156% movement speed while active

**Nature:**

**Scavenge (Passive): **level MAX - The ability to find food and supplies in the wild or trash.  
**Skinning (Passive):** Level 2 – Ability to skin creatures. +10% better quality hides, +10% speed of skinning  
**Tracking (Passive/Active):** Level 5 – Find where your target went by using clues they left behind. Active – See the path they took by having the clues highlighted. 85 MP every ten seconds, clues glow a faint gold.

**Art:**

**Acting (Passive):** Level 51 – Put on a convincing role that is not your own. +102% quality of acting  
**Singing (Passive):** Level 47 – Shift your voice to make music. +94% quality of sound  
**Dancing (Passive):** Level 25 – Move body in a pleasing display. +50% coordination  
**Drawing (Passive): **Level 17 – Bring to life works of art on chosen media. +17% quality to drawing

**Drugs Tolerance:**

**Alcohol (Passive):** Level 27 - Ability to hold drink. -27% penalties and negative effects  
**Tobacco (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to tolerate tobacco. -1% negative effects.

**Housework:**

**Dish Washing (Passive):** level 4 – Fight the grime with power! 20% speed at dishes  
**Laundry (Passive): **Level 13 – Fight the stains with the might of your hands! +65% speed washing clothes  
**Cooking (Passive): **level 2 – Cook the food with great strength! 7% better quality food

**Tactics:**

**Team Tactics (Passive):** Level 19 – Ability to plan and fight a battle with a team. +38% better plans made within a team  
**War Tactics (Passive):** Level 16 – Ability to plan and shape a battle as a leader. +32% better plans made for large scale battles  
**Guerrilla Warfare Tactics (Passive)**: Level 25 – Some battles aren't won by head on fighting. +50% better planning for taking on fighting forces larger than own

**Driving:**

**Class C Driving (Passive): **Level 1 – Can drive any noncommercial vehicle weighing 26,000 pounds or less except motorcycles.  
**Class M Driving (Passive): **Level MAX – Can drive any two-wheeled vehicle

**Weapon Crafting:**

**Mecha-Shift Weapon Creation (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to craft a weapon that can mecha-shift. +2% faster at planning weapon design, +2% faster build speed  
**Mecha-Shift Weapon Maintenance (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to maintain mecha-shift weaponry. +2% faster diagnose the issue with weapon, +2% faster at fixing issue  
**Forging (Passive):** Level 9 – Ability to shape alloys into usable pieces. +18% quality of creation, +18% speed of crafting

**Engineering:**

**Machinist (Passive): **Level 34 - Ability to use machines to mold objects into workable shapes. +68% speed and quality of work.  
**Automotive Mechanic (Passive)**: Level 9 - Ability to work on vehicles. +45% speed and quality of work on vehicles.  
**Industrial Mechanic (Passive): **Level 10 – Ability to work on equipment and heavy machinery. +20% speed and quality of work.  
**Plumbing (Passive):** Level 11 - Ability to fix up the plumbing utilities. +55% speed of building  
**Electronics (Passive):** Level 28 - The ability to work with electronic or electrical equipment. +56% speed at working with electronics  
**Construction (Passive): **Level 56 **\- **Ability to build structures. +56% build speed  
**Welding (Passive): **Level 23 – Ability to weld using MiG, Arc, torch, or any other. +23% to quality of weld

**Languages:**

**Linguistics (Passive):** Level 7 - Allows the user to learn languages faster. +70% faster learning speed with languages  
**Greek (Passive):** Level 95 – Ability to speak, understand and read Greek. +95% fluidity in Greek  
**Thai (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to speak, understand and read Thai. +1% fluidity in Thai  
**French (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to speak, understand and read French. +1% fluidity in French  
**Japanese (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to speak, understand and read Japanese. +1% fluidity in Japanese  
**Spanish (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to speak, understand and read Spanish. +1% fluidity in Spanish  
**Arabic (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to speak, understand and read Arabic. +1% fluidity in Arabic  
**Italian (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to speak, understand and read Italian. +1% fluidity in Italian  
**Tibetan (Passive): **Level 64 – Ability to speak, understand and read Tibetan. +64% fluidity in Tibetan

**Espionage:**

**Trickery (Passive): **Level 8 – Lie or fast talk your way out of undesirable situations. +10% quality of lie

**Romance:**

**Kissing (Passive):** Level 8 – Ability to give a kiss that knocks your lover off their feet. +40% pleasure given to receiver

**Sex:**

**Sexual Endurance (Passive):** Level 16 – Ability to hold back an orgasm. +80% longer until climax  
**Fingering (Passive):** Level 8 – Ability to pleasure a woman with just your hands. +40% pleasure given to receiver.  
**Sex (Passive):** Level 14 – Ability to pleasure a woman with penis. +70% Pleasure given to both parties  
**Oral Sex (Passive):** Level 6 – Ability to pleasure with the mouth. +12% Pleasure to receiver.

I was slightly embarrassed about the last skill set, but I ignored it with practiced ease as I drifted off to sleep. School started tomorrow and I didn't want to be tired since I started the day with math.

I parked at my usual spot in the garage and fished out my schedule from my inventory. I looked down at it as I walked to school, I knew I had math in the beginning, but where.

1- Geometry with Ms. Fairgood  
2- Physics with Ms. Peach  
3- AP World History with Mr. Bark  
4- Strength Training with Coach O'Neill

1- Introduction to Engineering Design with Mr. Bloomron  
2- English 10 with Mr. Blume  
3- Greek 2 with Mr. Hale  
4- AP Psychology with Ms. Woo

I didn't have anything with Antony, so I was perfectly happy with my schedule as I walked in for the day and found my old math room. I was the first in, so I took the back after nodding a hello to the teacher.

The class ended up being similar to my Algebra course with the woman and with my new intelligence, remembering the formulas would be an easy feat. I could even read ahead to know the formula before it was taught. I'd do that in my free time in the class later. I had more important things to do with my time outside of school.

The class ended and I found my way to the physics room. The class was like my math class, but I liked science more than mathematics., I had fun in biology even if we didn't do much within the course, so I hoped that physics would hold my attention.

The third class of the day was guaranteed to keep me paying attention. I had Mister Bark as my teacher for AP World History, so I was incredibly happy to have a good teacher that I could listen to. For the most part, he rehashed what everyone said, what was going to be graded and how harshly it would be done. Standard first day stuff.

Like last year, I didn't do anything the first day of gym, so I just studied Tibetan to pass the time. By the time school let out, I was bored out of my mind and ready to restart my workout schedule that I hadn't done in so long. I would have to find a few heavier boulders now that I could lift almost five hundred pounds. I could also fell large trees with a good cut from my blade, so I could take on a minor without almost dying like I did with those beowolves. It saddened me to realize that the minors I went against may have just gotten to that level as I had fought a few beowolves that were tougher than the alpha with their packs. It was their arrogance that made them lose because if even a normal alpha fought with its pack, the fight got a lot harder.

The day ended and I was back in bed, kind of disappointed. I signed up for hard classes and I didn't feel like I was going to be challenged. 'Well, only time will tell how I handle the workload.'


	16. Chapter 16

Time did tell and it was lacking. In three months, I was bored with the lessons I had and barely paid attention anymore. I had read ahead in all the books looking for something to keep my interest, anything, but came up short after I finished each text. I found I had to curse my high intelligence since it made my work so much easier. One glance at a problem along with how to solve and I understood it. It was like a circuit would click within my brain. It was like with languages, but those were fun at least! They had applications and learning them was interesting! Math was just boring!

The one class I found myself liking was AP World only because of the teacher. I made myself to pay attention to the man as he spun tales from the books and added a little humor to the lessons. It was worth listening to information I already knew from the text to lesson to his real world experience as an architect and how history shaped the world we live in. The man could make the numerous rebellions in the Vacuo region interesting even if they were all over the same thing.

I couldn't even learn more of my Tibetan because I couldn't find any books on their culture due to their isolationism. I was at level seventy-five, so I believed that was fine, but I wished I could find those books because it felt like a slap to the jaw that it was so close, yet so far.. I sighed and tossed it up as a bad job a week ago. Now, I planned to start my Italian section tomorrow because I had run out of things to do in class.

I arrived in class and found my place in the corner, still in the same style suit I had been wearing since school had begun. It was starting to get nippy out and that meant it was rather cold for most people since I couldn't feel forty percent of the cold. I knew it was cold, but it just didn't bother me that much.

Junior had me up late last night running an errand that couldn't wait. There was a package he received by someone that needed to go somewhere that night and since I was free and he knew I could get to places fast, I had to get it into the wealthy district. It didn't take that long, but it was late, so by the time I got back, it was three.

I was bored, so I took out some paper and drew up a blueprint to a farm to kill time. The design, one I'd built at least twenty times, I could do with my eyes closed, so I added in the electric system to the side with the science behind the circuits as well as the plumbing system. The irrigation system was complex, so I started on another sheet and ended up drawing a CAD like design on how to build the pump to get the water to work. I couldn't help but think that, with knowledge of how dust works, that I could improve the already excellent if fragile design. These things are prone to coming apart, so maybe dust could help, but I didn't know most types of the substance, so I had no idea what dust could do.

This killed enough time until the bell rung and I packed up my stuff which came to seven sheets of paper with detailed blueprints of a farm. 'Huh, my drawing skills are getting better. Too bad I'm not creative.'

Yawning, I left to go to physics where I planned to draw the forces acting in the pump system to kill time. Today felt like a drawing day for some reason.

I finished up the day with a work out that baffled the coach as I did ten sets of ten benches using five plates on both sides. It was heavy and it was tiring, but it was the only way I could improve anymore with any real time restriction. Cardio lifting was well and good, but it took far too many reps to even get to a quarter of the level that built up with heavy weights.

I left school immediately and went about my routine. Which was do what I did last year, but harder. My life was boring as hell, but I wasn't wanting for anything due to my good work habit outside of class. I made fifty-eight thousand a year just with my guarding gig, that wasn't including the hunting quests that I barely even called a job anymore.

I enjoyed going out and helping people have better lives. Sure I wasn't saving lives most if any of the time I was out there, but people were so happy to see when their homes are rebuilt or when that pack of grimm that was threatening their family was dead that it made it worth the trouble I went through. The thanks I would get from people felt great and the paycheck was an afterthought most of the time, gathering dust in my inventory until I saw it while pulling something out.

If I could get away with skipping school and just raising in the ranks by how many jobs I would go on, I'd drop out in a heartbeat. Alas I couldn't, so I was stuck sitting in a classroom all day doing nothing but doodle.

My bike stopped in its usual spot at Juniors which was basically mine by this point and everyone knew it. I wandered into the club, straightening my tie as I went. As I did this, I tapped the butt of my pistol in the shoulder holster I bought so that it wasn't stuck in the back of my pants anymore. I was paranoid that it would fall out, but the holster was professionally made for police, so there wasn't much of a chance for the firearm to fall.

"Arc, to my office." I heard over my comms. Giving an exhale, I followed the command and went up the stairs to go see what I was needed for. I entered and saw Junior seating at his desk with a frown along with a raven-haired man in a white suit. Around his neck was a ring hanging by twine, this would have not drawn my attention if not for what seemed to be a bloody smear all along one of the sides.

I blinked at the men, "Sir?"

Junior glanced down at the table before giving a sigh. "Arc, this is Mister Robber." I looked at the man to see a smug smirk on his lips. Never heard of the guy. "He has a job he needs down and I can't in good conscious send anyone but you. He needs help with a drug deal that will be a little..." Junior paused trying to find the right word.

Robber took that as his queue, "Hairy. I will be dealing my cocaine to a new seller and I don't trust those niggers more than I could throw their black asses." It was only thanks to my acting that I could kept the shock of hearing such blatant racism towards fellow men sprouted so openly in this day and age.

I licked my lips before saying, "Okay, so what? I go in with you as protection and if it gets 'hairy' I protect you on the way out."

The man nodded, "If it does go south, I want my coke back and the money they were going to pay for it as well. I have guards to protect me and will get my drugs back. You will be my sniper overwatch keep my men covered while they grab the stuff."

"Sniper cover. I can do that as long as you provide the gun and not... please let me repeat this part... _not _cause me to have to end lives needlessly. I don't give a damn what you do for money, but I am not going to be part of a large hit."

The man seemed to get angry at this, his face growing red with rage as he moved to get out of his seat. That was until Junior spoke calmly, "Arc is right. You are hiring protection, not a hitman. I do not offer that service and I will not have one of my men dragged into a drug war. If you need a hired gun to kill your competition, you need to go somewhere else because the vandals are dead in this city. The contract you signed explicitly stated that if you opened fire first without just cause, we no longer are responsible for you."

The man grumbled before returning to his seat. "Fine, I wasn't planning to kill anyone anyways. Meet me here tomorrow at ten," I was handed a card with an address on it. "I will have the rifle and plan ready for you, I'm paying top marks for this, so do not fail me or I will have a refund." The man gave me a once over before snorting.

Once he had his pompous ass out of the room, Junior turned his chair to me. "Alright, I know that guys a dick, but he's paying thirty thousand for expert cover and I know you have training with scoped rifles. Mike, I think, also knows, but he's only here as a bartender. We're lucky he stayed after the assault as getting shot at was nowhere in his job description."

"Yeah, so I'll just go meet the guy after a two hour shift here?"

Junior's head shook. "This guy has a reputation of being a racist towards everything not pasty white. He will most likely try something, so I want you to come here to get a camera to record the exchange." Junior opened a drew and drew out a hand-sized camera with a collapsible tripod. "Use that weird storage thing I saw you pull your gun out of to carry it when I let you go tomorrow." I didn't flinch when he mentioned knowing about that, but I also didn't really care as it was just the storage part. "Set it up with the rifle and make sure it has a good view of the dealing. If Robber starts things, provide backup, but do not let Robber and his men out alive. If he does start things, he's too much of a loose cannon."

I went to open my mouth when he raised his palm towards me. "I know you don't want to kill them, but there has been seven drug deal that has gone south with them in the last year. They are murderers already, so you'll just be stopping them from killing more people, mind you also bad people, but stopping death a little bit in this city for a time."

I rubbed my eyes before reaching forward to check out the camera. "I'll do it, but if I do have to put down Robber, I get a cut of the deal's money." I flipped the camera around and turned it on before checking out the features for quick use. "This thing good in the dark and does it have any lights I need to cover?"

"Nightvision, it's high quality and in the video settings. There are no lights on the thing except for the screen. I'll have a cover for it tomorrow for after you set it up." I nodded at the information as I handed the camera back. "The cut will be thirty percent for you since it will be a small time deal and also recover the drugs at the same time. I can sell them to some dealers for cheap."

"Speaking of drugs..." I said as I mentally opened my inventory. I still had the stuff from the Vandal's messenger job. About ten packets of Cocaine, three of Meth, and twenty rolls of marijuana that I would be keeping since there wasn't a chance of dying with it nor losing my mind from those. "I have these still from looting the Vandals during the job you sent me on." I brought the hard drugs out from my pocket after equipping them to my hand.

Junior took them from my grasp and checked them over, not minding the improv drug deal seeing as I had proven myself forgetful with unimportant things. "Not great... But I believe it is fit for use my boys could sell. I'll give you three hundred for the lot." I agreed as I really didn't care about the money, I took them because I could. After handing me the money, he said, "Alright, report in before you leave for the camera."

**Quest:**

**Protect Robber and his men during the deal**

**optional – Take out Robber and his men if they start fight. Adds a third of the deal's money to the rewards**

**Reward: 30000 experience, 5000 lien, positive reputation with underground**

**Failure: Decreased reputation, lose thirty thousand for refund**

My shift was boring and I ended up having to only stop one bar fight from getting out of hand. The next day at school, I read over the mathematical calculations of bullet drop and how to zero in a scope during school from some marksmen books I picked up from a bookstore. I focused on the subsonic rounds just in case Robber was smart and handed me a suppressed rifle to keep the chaos going if the fight started. Thank the gods that I had already taken algebra, so I could do the elevation calculations in my head.

People kept a wide berth around me once more when they saw me studying long distance marksmanship as well as taking notes and doing calculations on paper. 'They must think that I'm about to go insane before the holidays. Cute.'

In the middle of History, I was startled when I got a new skill while I was calculating the average drop of a subsonic round from a dust bolt-action hunting rifle. **Ballistic (Passive):** Level 1 – Calculate the trajectory of ballistics ranging from missiles to bullets. +5% speed of calculations. I managed to level that skill up to five that day due to doing every kind of equations I could to account for anything from drop, wind, to air density.

I did my normal routine after I had everything calculated out which was go into the gym and work out. The overbearing weight were still the same as the day before, but when school let out, I only did the shadow fights and blade practice so my aim wouldn't be the least bit shaky.

As I made my way to work, I had to stop at the second-hand store in one of the poorer districts of the city. Once there, I picked out a long sleeve turtle neck sweater, some leather gloves, and black cargos from the racks. Since I was there though, I picked out another pair of good military black boots, some new running shoes, some wore jeans and a hoodie to replace the one I had neglected to get since mine was shot up. I also added a wore black low profile cap to keep my hair under control.

The bundle was on the counter and the cashier looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Growth spurt. Killer on my clothes and wallet," I said with a sheepish grin. The man cracked a grin as he rung up everything.

Once at work, I could barely stand still even if I didn't let my nervousness show on my face. I arrived at Junior's office at nine and he handed me the camera and cover without a word. I placed them in my inventory as I made my way out of his office.

I took a stop around the corner and pulled out my outfit for the job. The boots were laced tightly up and my black cargo pant leg covered the laces. The turtleneck fit snug enough for no loose fabric, but not too tight to be form-fitting. Over that went my armor that I had to loosen just a bit to compensate for the extra cloth between us. I would be putting my cap on backwards once I had my helmet off to keep my hair from blocking any of my vision. My gloves were the last thing on and when I was set, I got onto my bike and rode off to the meeting point.

I parked my bike around the block a ways and walked the rest of the way. As I turned the corner, I saw a black van with Robber hanging around with his hands in his pockets, looking cold. I made sure to click my boot against the ground once to let him know I was coming. At the noise, the criminal looked up and saw me approaching. "Good, you're here on time." The man reached down and picked up a long case. "Here's the rifle and the ammo is in the case." The man withdrew his other hand from his pocket to reveal a folded set of papers. "All the needed information as well as the faces of our buyers. You will be located on the roof of the address I wrote down."

I flicked the papers open and saw a page of mugshots with names and who they were to the gang. A sheet on the address and information that any marksman would need to know. "Rifle zeroed in? Got a rangefinder in the case or am I using my first shot to estimate where I shoot?" I asked as I looked over the information.

"Rifle's fine and the scope comes with a rangefinder." I nodded at the information. "If the deal goes off without a hitch, I will pick you up here at one, make sure the rifle is in one piece." I mock saluted the guy as I checked the mini map of the helmet I neglected to take off. The address was just down the streets and the buildings were close enough to jump since we were in the poorer district of Vale and the deal was going down in a shipping yard.

I walked off into the darkness, taking off my helmet and replacing it with my cap and night vision goggles to find where I was going. It only took a few minutes to arrive at the roof at a sprint and a bit of elaborate climbing to reach the fire escape.

Once on the roof, I made sure I was in the right place and looked around to see escape routes. I could go left for a few blocks and drop down, but I could also go right for relocation if I get spotted. The case easily and quietly popped open to show three full magazines and a large magazine-fed rifle with a scope on top. Once out of the case, I saw it was slim and had the look of a gunpowder weapon, but the bullets were dust, so it was just look wise that it was similar. The tip of the barrel had a thick end to it and with a closer look through my goggles, it was due to the suppressor built into the weapon. I could work with this.

**Suppressed DDMR-7 – Military marksman rifle used for quiet operations. Uses Subsonic Dust Sniper rounds**

**12000/12000**

**250 Ballistics**

**1 round/second**

The bipod popped open and I mounted it to the roof's edge and got a good view of the shipping yard. Once the rifle was set up, I pulled out the camera and tripod with it before setting it up and starting the recording. Once it was on, I slid the cover onto it and rolled back behind the firearm to see how far I would be shooting. I turned the scope on and stashed away my goggles, leaving my vision empty until I looked into the scope. The green light met my eye as I looked through to scope to see the yard. I was currently four hundred meters out and would need to adjust my aim accordingly. 'Did Robber think he was hiring an expert sniper? I mean I can take the shots, but still, four hundred meters were difficult shots to make for someone without military training.'

Within five minutes, an SUV rolled up with two sedans behind it. Gang bangers all hopped out and one had a briefcase in his hand. The only reason I made note of this was due to Robber's comments, but they were all of the darker skin and five were Faunus. Looking at the fauni's arms, I saw three had affiliations with the white fang or were at least supporters.

Almost nine minutes later, Robber still hadn't showed up so I had taken to scanning to rooftops, but I found no one. The new gang had come in alone with twenty men among them. All of them armed with assault weapons with a side arm. The only light source was two spotlights from the nearby building.

The numbers told me all I needed to know about the size of this deal and how Robber probably wasn't being paranoid about needing sniper coverage if he was doing something with this many people.

Finally, on the ten minute mark, Robber drove up in his van along with three cars behind them. The gangsters all laid their hands onto their weapons, but didn't draw as Robber hopped out with his gang.

I made a quick count and found there were twenty-two of Robber's boys including the man himself.

The two exchanged greetings with a handshake, but it was plain to see that Robber hated the other man. They exchanged some words and a duffle bag was brought out from one of the gangster's cars. The gang leader took it from his man and opened it, revealing a package of white powder.

The black male took the package and pulled out a knife. I watched as he cut the package open a bit and took a snort of the drug off his blade, recoiling back from the hit he got almost immediately. The man gave a wide-eyed grin as he shook the drug out of his head. As the man handed back the cocaine, Robber apparently made a less than savory comment to the man. A gun was drawn by the gang leader which prompted everyone else to bring out their own. "No, no, no, you fucking idiot!" I whispered under my breath as I chambered a round.

As I watched, Robber pointed right at me with a smirk before blowing off the man's head without a moment to lose. This led to an all out fight between the men, the echoes of gunfire reaching my position as they exchanged fire. I sighed before I planted five rounds into the radiator of Robber's van and followed it up with ruining his other three cars before reloading. Once a fresh magazine was in, I started taking beads on the buyers before picking them off one at a time.

Robber was not without casualties, since the buyer and his boys had time to take good positions in the ten minutes they had to wait, easy access to hard cover and favorable points for shooting. Before Robber could get to cover, he already had a bullet in his leg and seven of his men were dead.

I saw tracers zipping around the man's hobbling form, so I tracked them to the people about to shoot my former employer before my rifle bucked in my hands. Ten men died from my bullets as the gunfight started to calm a bit once everyone was behind enough cover. The bastard's men who tried to start the cars were shocked that they wouldn't move, but they died due to giving their position away. A van door's window wasn't the best cover from rifle rounds.

With five more rival gang members still alive, I started to take a shot, but the concrete next to me exploded. I looked over and saw a chunk missing that was trenched towards me, a large bullet wedged into the roofing material.

I rolled to my side, carrying my rifle with me and searched the area the shot came from. As my scope swept the area, all I saw were shipping factories until a flash lit up one of the lower windows and a bullet whizzed by my ear. My rifle pointed at the window and I saw the bald head of a man with a rifle on his shoulder. The rangefinder told me six hundred and forty-three meters, so I quickly calculated the drop and lifted my barrel before firing. I didn't trust the first shot, so I fired the rest of the five bullets I had in my magazine.

I watched the bullet's flight through the air and a slight sense of glee washed through me when I saw the sniper slump down and his rifle fall from the window. One of those five shots hitting my target.

By the time I had confirmed the sniper was dead, there was only Robber and four of his men left alive. I only had one clip left too. I gave a sigh as I chambered a new round into my weapon.

"Why'd you make me, Robber?" I questioned aloud as I lined up my crosshairs with a gangster slowly coming out of cover from behind the van. The vehicles were shot up something awful and the man was lucky no bullets reached him. My quiet shot took his head off, unknown to the rest of the gang since they were converging on the money. I took a deep breath before lining up with Robber and taking the shot. The bullet tore a path through the night's bitter air and ripped a course through the traitorous dealer's neck. I didn't let the three men gain their wits before rapidly putting them down. As my gun clicks, the last of the two gangs fall to the concrete, dead from lethal head wounds. "Dammit," I muttered as I rested my forehead against the cold roof.

I packed up the rifle before storing the case in my inventory. I put my goggles back and started picking up my casings to reload them later once I figured out how to make dust bullets. Any free bullet was a good enough reason for me to put out the effort. Once the roof was clear of casings and the camera, I climbed my way down and quickly ran to the docks as quickly as I could.

I only paused to scoop up my loot which was just cash or meaningless items that I didn't bother with. The briefcase went into my inventory along with the bag of... I picked it up expecting something light, but my arm jerked back down from what little force I gave. I opened the bag and found so many bags of white powder that it went from funny and over to 'what-was-I-a-part-of' nervousness. I tossed the bag into my inventory and found out that it was over a hundred pounds of cocaine. 'What did I get into?! Small deal my ass! This is millions of dollars of coke!' I screamed in my head as I ran to the sniper's rifle to check it out.

The rifle was meaningless, just a civilian hunting bolt-action. I did take the magazine though as it used the same caliber as my new rifle. Now that I had looted the scene, I needed to clear out and get back to my bike. The trip back was quick and I took off my body armor, so that I wasn't suspicious past my dark attire.

Once I was on it, I quickly left to get back to the club before the police could show up for the gunfight. With my gamer's mind, I was able to calmly drive back to Junior's like I didn't just assassinate four men that hired me to protect them nor killed eleven gangsters in a large gunfight, I barely even thought about it past having to go report in with Junior.

As I rode my bike, a squad of cop cars whipped by me with their sirens blaring for all the world to hear. When I saw them coming, I did a mental check to make sure I was doing everything legal. Headlight on, helmet on, and going the right speed. The only thing out of place was my attire, but it was too dark to see that.

A mile before I arrived at Junior's, I put on my suit once more to look presentable, and finished the short journey. In total, I was gone for two hours.

The music hit me as I walked through the door, just as it always did. My trip to the office wasn't disturbed and I knocked on Junior's door, pulling out the drug bag. "Come in." I saw Junior at his desk as always, watching television with his whiskey in hand. "Arc? You're back already?" The man questioned until his eyes zoomed in on the bag. "Oh. I see."

I placed the hundred pounds of drugs on his desk with a gentle touch, there was no need to drop it. "A hundred and seven pounds of cocaine and..." the briefcase appeared in my hand and set it next to the drugs. "An uncounted amount of money coupled with," The next item I pulled out of thin air was the camera. "Footage of the deal."

Junior clapped his hands before he took the camera from me. "Now, let's see how bad it got." The man flipped the camera and fast forward it to where the deal stated. The muttering of myself and sound of gunfire filled the room as the footage played.

After watching the short skirmish, Junior couldn't help but say, "That idiot pointed out that he had an advantage, then voided the deal. Nice show with the sniper too." Junior gave a quick shake of the head as he spun back in his chair to face the pile on his desk. "Well, we came out on top."

The gang leader reached over to his desk and tapped an intercom, "Janis, please send up three of my boys." The man got a confirmation before leaning back in his chair. "Well Arc, you once more did perfectly. I'll have the money counted and call you up at the end of your shift." I gave the man a farewell as I slid my fedora over my head to get back to my job.

As I stood watching young adults grind all over each other in a drunken stupor, it hit me that I was a contracted killer. I wasn't even bad at it, I was actually a rather good one as the two things I've done had been high profile with many deaths involved while leaving no evidence of my doing. I didn't even use my own gun for this one!

The worst part was, I was okay with this. I didn't mind because I thought of it all as just part of my job, doing these illegal things, I signed up for it after all and I was fine doing them. Hell, I was a better hit man than I was a huntsman and that was what kind of upset me. 'I'll just have to get better at fighting and stronger, so that I could match grimms and be that great hunter I want to be. Once I'm in Beacon, I'll quit this job.'

The end cut that I received from the money totaled to be a whooping one and a half million lien. Junior and I stared at the case of money that was my cut on the desk. "You know, I feel killing fourteen gangsters shouldn't reward me so much," I commented as I looked over the large amount of money. "Also, you'd think a five million dollar deal would have more than one sniper for each side?"

"Nah, would want to keep that low key," Junior said absently as he closed my briefcase. "I believe this will set you up for quite a long time." I nodded as I grabbed the case and put it into my inventory. "That just freaks me the hell out," the man absently stated. "That being said, you are the perfect man for smuggling, so expect a few of those jobs if you want to continue working like this."

"I'll keep the job until I'm at beacon. After that, I'll be a full time huntsman, but until then, I'm open to many things." Junior nodded at what I said, expecting it. "So, how do you think I should go about adding a million lien to a bank account?"

After ten minutes informing me that I would need to do the depositing in intervals and why, something about suspicion if they checked me out, I left to get back home to my warm bed.

The news the next day barely touched on the death since it was seen as a gang shoot out between two known factions. Robber apparently had made a name for himself as a drug kingpin of the west side of Vale. The rival gang, the Tombs, were big in the buying and selling of hardcore narcotics. Somehow, in some twisted way, I was able to focus on my work once more now that the job was out of the way. I felt accomplished by my deed even if it was dark.

Going from doing a high paying hit to school life was jarring and I found myself bored once more as I flipped through the textbooks as the teachers talked. I didn't even feel like studying a new language which had been my hobby for the past year. All through geometry, I worked on my ballistic calculations using my sniper handbook. I would need to get a few rocket books and handbooks on grenade launchers to know the drop on an RPG and the likes. With how my life was going, I knew those would be in my near future. The weird thing was, I actually looked forward to it. Firing the forty millimeters were fun.

The next week, I worked on my ballistic skill, I bought a book on the mechanics of firing launchers of many types and how to compensate for the drop. The books were surprisingly easy to find at a local bookstore, but I had some sneaking suspicion that they were affiliated with the white fang. Too much Anti-Vytal works in there with pro-rebellions.

As I was doing hypothetical equations to take down a convoy of lightly armored vehicles that employed my limited knowledge on how to disable a car, I heard, "Arc, what are you doing?"

Without thinking, I answered back without looking up, "Teaching myself how to properly fire a rocket-propelled grenade to great effect." I looked up to see the teacher staring at me, I was in physics, so Ms. Peach was the one in front of me. "I'm applying physics to it, so I'm not completely off task..." I mumbled as I finished up doing a detailed drawing of a supply truck's engine.

The woman took a breath before asking through clenched teeth, "Why do you need to know how to fire a rocket?"

I blinked at her. "To... kill grimms too big for a sword and fight any threats to the nation," I said, confused on what else she meant. It was well known I was going to be a hunter, I've said it enough. The woman would even use examples of how the physics could be applied to hunting so that I would stay on task.

"Put. it. Away." I shrugged and placed the papers in a binder I had labeled Ballistics. It was getting full from all the work I had in there. "Finals are coming up in a month. You have barely paid attention in my class, so when you fail, it will be on you."

My eyebrows furrowed at this. "But... Don't I ace all the tests? I do pay attention with new things..." I pointed out, slightly meekly as the woman loomed over me. I was not good with social situations even after working as a guard for so long. I could only stand up to Antony last year because I thought he was a douche. I didn't have feelings one way or another with this teacher.

"Oh, so you think you could pass the Final with flying colors if I gave it to you at this moment?!" The teacher asked with a smug look on her face. I didn't like where this was going, but I did nod at her. "Fine. Hear that everyone, Arc will be taking the test early." She turned back to me. "Wait in the hall, you can do the test out there now."

After staring at her for a few seconds, I realized she wasn't joking, so I slid all my things into my pack and walked out of the room. I was in the hall for five minutes before she came out and tossed a packet down in front of me. I checked through it and found that it was one hundred problems from the entire unit, even some she hadn't taught yet."

I looked up at the standing woman as she gave me a smirk and went back into the room. "Um... Okay, didn't see my day going like this," I mumbled to myself before clicking some graphite into my pencil. I breathed through the true and false sections as they were simple. The multiple choices were also easy, but I took my time anyways as I had over an hour of class to finish.

My pencil stilled as I finished the last calculation that was, ironically, calculation the energy needed to send a rocket a hundred meters to its target. Now all I had to do was a short essay on Refraction and I was done. I checked the time and saw that I had thirty more minutes, so I would write the essay, double check everything, then turn it in.

After adding any corrections that I needed to on my work, I shuffled the papers back together and walked back into the room. I quietly set the papers down on the teacher's desk before walking back out to do more work on my hypothetical ambush plans in the library.

My earphones were in my ears and playing some band, Achieve Boys or something, that I downloaded off a bundle I got on sale. The sound was agreeable and the beat was nice to workout to so I kept it on my scroll.

History was better than physics and we started to learn recent history on some of the reasons people branched out from Vale. After school had let out, I rode off to go exercise like normal. I couldn't wait until holiday break came around and I could just relax.

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I'm alive, btu fucking christ open heart surgery hurts. I don't feel at all better having it lol. Pklus I learned I hate the feeling of being stoned, the disconnect from my limbs and lack of focus is not for me. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too, cya til next time


	17. Chapter 17

I adjusted my frosty the snowman mask that had been on my head for the past twenty minutes, since before I got into this van as everyone else did the same with their own Christmas themed mask. We didn't know each other past our code names, nor did we even know each other's faces. The man in the reindeer mask was Dasher, Santa was Santa, and the Elf was Elf. We were all in our battle outfits. I was in my sniper uniform minus the hat and glasses and everyone else was in a version of that if in different colors. Mostly it was to keep people from knowing our skin tone during the job, from the police and each other. "Okay, Frosty, you know what you have to do, right?"

I gave a grunt as I adjusted the strap of my bag on my shoulder with my gloved hand. "Get on the roof, sneak my way to the vault and plant C4. You will come in after I blow the charge to help me get the money into bags." Santa gave me a nod as he checked his assault rifle. "No innocents, right?"

Everyone gave a resounding agreement and we heard the driver call, "Frost, out now!" I slid the door open and hopped out of the speeding vehicle, rolling with the thirty mile an hour drop as the van sped off down the alley. Once I was stopped, I started hopping up a fire escape I had stopped next to. The building I was scaling was around seven stories overlooking our target, so it only took me a minute or two to reach the top thanks to my experience with climbing around the city. Our target stood tall in front of me, Bank of Vale, a large bank in the richer district of the city that had a great security system, but not so great number of staff members since it was almost Christmas.

The only reason we were hitting a bank was due to our employer blackmailing a rich man to put in a deposit of five million lien to come in under the premise that he was going to buy his daughter a house for the holiday. The plan had been in the works long before I was set up to work in it, so I had no idea what was the blackmail, and that was fine as I didn't really care about the behind the scenes action.

On the roof, I pulled the zip line gun that I was given for this part out from my bag and fired the line across the road to the bank's roof. I saw the rope grow taut as it stuck in the concrete wall. With a tug, I felt no give, so I turned my head and triggered the back's mechanism to fire off its mounting spike into the roof's exit. I backed off a few steps before running at the edge of the roof and jumping.

My grip stayed on the launcher that was in between the lines and I slid feet first at the bank. The harsh December wind bit at my clothing as I flew across the gap between the two buildings. The cars below were none the wiser to the teen ziplining across to the bank, or I hoped, since we couldn't afford more than a minute of extra time to get everything.

The concrete met my boots and I had to run out the momentum, but the infiltration was successful. Taking hold of the line, I pressed a button on the spent gun that was clenched in my grip. With a small snap, the line in front of me broke off from the harpoon and rapidly rolled up into the gun to be used again after being threaded into another hook. The mounting line didn't even drop a bit as the powerful gears spun it back into its grasp faster than a tape measure.

I placed the gun back into my supply bag, over the large amount of C4, and pressed my ear through the mask, activating my headset. "I'm on the roof." I got a confirmation as I walked towards the door. It was locked, but a sharp blade along the frame fixed that issue. My stealth skill came alive as I got down low and stalked my way down the stairs, listening for anyone that I would need to knockout. This wasn't necessary as I made it to the basement without an issue.

I came upon the vault in all its glory with two guards. I came out of my cover with the rifle I was given for the job against my shoulder. The guards were going for their weapons, but I raised my rifle at the two while tightening my grip. "Hands up," I whispered across the space. "No talking and we can all get through this unharmed."

The guards slowly followed my command and raised their hands. "Guns on the floor, kicked to the side and step forward." I watched them for any heroics, but they followed my command. "Thank you." When they came up to me, I gestured for them to turn and used zip ties to bind their hands and feet. "Anyone in the vault?" I asked as I bound their legs.

"N-no," one of them answered in a small voice. Good, I wouldn't need to wait for anyone to leave.

The rifle hung on my chest as I dragged the pair to the stairwell and tossed them under it. "Stay because it will get loud."

The man on my right started to open his mouth, put I pointed my rifle at him before turning back to the vault. "Planting charges now," I informed my team. It was simple since I had a design of the vault in my head. Our employer didn't half ass this scheme and went the full nine yard for this heist. Bank plans, vault schematics, security layouts, step by step instructions on the use of all the equipment, even blueprints on how to create the vault and security systems

Once I had relieved myself of twenty pounds of plastic explosives, I hightailed it back to where I had the guards set up. "Ready," I whispered over my comms as I ducked behind the stairs. The guards stared at me and I gestured with my palm to stay down.

"Blow it." I pulled out my remote and flipped it to active. I took a deep breath and clicked the button down. My world exploded with noise as the charges went off. A window popped up and I quickly dismissed it. **Demolition (Passive): **level 1 - Ability to place explosives in key areas for maximum effect. +5% damage of explosive on structures. The sound of the explosives and metal twisting was deafening, but I fought through the shock as the alarm went off to start the job. "Nice work, Frosty."

I ran at the cloud of smoke and saw that the door was heavily damaged and partly open. I gave a strong heave as I opened it more. I paused to place my hand on my rifle as footsteps ran downstairs. "Incoming friendlies, Frosty." I heard over my headset, so I went back to opening the vault wider instead of reaching for my gun.

Two figures ran by me and into the vault. Once it was open to my liking, I followed the pair in and found three tables of money surrounded by rubble, debris, and some burnt bills. Each in a giant brick that was as big as my torso. "That... Looks heavy," Dasher said as he started opening up the duffle bags.

Elf snickered as he started shoveling money into the bags until they were full. I joined in to help the man. Five minutes and nine bags later, we were moving. I was the muscle, so I had all of the bags across my body, weighing about three hundred pounds in total.

I easily bore the weight as we ran up the stairs in a loping sprint. Up top, we saw the van we came in on across the street in an alley. "Come in," I heard Santa say over the mic and the van turned on before reversing. With a loud crash, the vehicle took out the front door and the back was thrown open by Elf. "In the van!"

The team including myself dove into the van and he took off. Santa slammed the door shut and started laughing. "That went GREAT guys!" Santa patted me on the back from where I was resting on the floor.

After three minutes of quiet driving, I heard from the driver, "Frosty, we're at the drop point!" I nodded and braced myself as the van stopped slowly. Once we had come to a stop, I hopped out and found we were next to a car under a tunnel. The keys were in the trunk, so I opened it up and dumped the cash in as the van took off.

Once they were clear, I stored the mask and weapons into my inventory before switching into a casual hoodie and leaving my pants the same. The only other thing I added with my cap and sunglasses to hide my face a bit. My scar was distinct, so I use my red axe gang glasses to cover it.

The car was an old sedan that was slightly rusty, but it would have to work or they wouldn't have parked it where it was. Taking the keys, I got into the driver seat and started up the car before carefully maneuverings myself into traffic.

After an hour of driving, I found myself outside a dive bar. Pulling into the alley behind it, I pushed myself out of the sedan and handed the keys to a man waiting in the alley. He took them with a nod and drove the car off to the next drop point.

Once he was clear, I pulled out a cigarette and lit it with my zippo lighter as I walked down the street. 'What a Christmas eve,' I thought to myself as I headed off to report the job as a success to Junior.

I would get my cut, a good few hundred thousand once the employer took his fifty percent cut, leaving five hundred thousand to pay off contacts. The other two million went to us for the job, but I had to give Junior a hundred grand for setting me up with the team, so I would still make out with four hundred thousand lien. I'd say four hundred thousand for a day's work without killing someone was a great day.

While smoking, I pulled out my scroll and opened a news station before putting my earphones in. "-f Vale was robbed today at noon by four masked assailants. No one was injured beyond some hearing damage, but over five million lien was stolen from the vault through the use of high explosives. Please call your local police if you have any information that could be used for the capture of these criminal." I smirked around my cigarette as I switched the program to my music.

A window floated in front of my face that told me that I had finally leveled up to thirty-one, having been working at it since the protection job got me eighty percent there.

It was by five that I arrived at the club from foot, my bike was sitting at my spot where I left it. I didn't have a shift today, so I kept on my worn out hoodie and my cap which I had backwards to keep my hair from bugging me while able to see the areas above me.

Junior called me in after I knocked on his door. When he saw me, he immediately asked, "You get it done?" I gave her a confirmatory nod. "Good, the money will be waiting here in a week's time. I'll take my cut, the hundred thousand we agreed on, and you can pick it up after your shift."

That was it. The plan was made for my reward, so I left to get back to my apartment for a good rest.

My trip to my family for the holiday went off without a hitch and I was once more tackled as I got off my bike by the trio. With my new strength since last year, I was able to keep moving with ease even as the twelve year old and nine year old twins hung off me. The girls giggled as they clung to me like sloths on a tree as I made my way into the house.

The moment I crossed the threshold into the building, the girls released me and ran to go wait by the tree, eager to open presents. I took the reprieve to take out the girls and mom's gifts out of sight. Ignoring the large man in the chair, I placed my presents under the tree and went to give mom a hug, who was in the kitchen, cooking lunch.

"Don't touch the presents until we've eaten girls," mom called back as she heard the girls conspiring in whispers. I chuckled as I took my place next to her and started cutting the vegetables she had out. "Merry Christmas, Jaune."

"Merry Christmas, Mom," I replied as I rapidly chopped the carrots that would be going into mom's stew. We worked in silence as the girls were enthralled by the TV in the living room. We finished setting up the stew, so I went to the fridge and got out the ingredients to make some cookies to snack on after lunch.

As I was stirring everything, mom was talking to me about this and that, mixing between bragging about a successful hunt with a nevermore and asking about my social life. "So, I really think you should bring home that girlfriend I know you are hiding from u-... AHH!" The woman cut herself off before she released a shriek that made me think she was dying.

Startled, I dropped the spoon I was stirring with and pulled out my pistol from my shoulder holster as I spun around to see what made her scream like she was just stabbed. The girls and Thomas came running as I looked around the room. "What, where?!" I questioned as she took a deep breath.

"You're missing a finger!" She cried out once she found her voice. When I hear this, I rub my face with my free hand while letting my pistol hang to my side. Yeah, scare the absolute shit out of me. That'd help. "Why are you missing a finger?! And your ear?! What happened?!"

I finished rubbing my face to see mom staring at my hand and the girls were doing the same. My face morphed into a nervous smile as I gave a half-hearted laugh while scratching my neck. "Well, you see... I was hunting these beowolves in May and they... Got kinda lucky with a bite. It's no big deal and all. I mean, it's not noticeable unless you really look at my hand and my ear's well… it's just an ear."

Mom glared at me as my sisters grabbed the hand to stare at it, oohing as they poked the smaller finger. My pistol went back into my suit's holster and with the now free hand, I flicked Becky in the forehead to get her to let my finger go. She grumbled as she dropped it while rubbing her head.

Smirking at the grumbling, I went back to stirring the ingredients together for the cookies. Thomas was already back in the living room with his paper. After my flick, the girls dispersed to get back to their show, leaving me with just mom. "Why didn't you tell me you were hurt?" She questioned, pain lacing her voice.

The tone she had made me feel awful, so I answered as honestly as I could, "I told you I heal fast, so it wasn't an issue. I don't even notice it anymore since it was only a bit of my finger, not the whole thing." I turned to see mom look skeptical, so I added, "It's really no big deal. You said yourself that being a hunter was dangerous and while I mostly take the building jobs, I do still run into some grimms."

The woman tried to argue, but huffed with crossed arms. "Fine, just tell me next time you get hurt okay. You showed up suddenly with a scar across that face of yours and you laughed that off too. I will not accept that when you lose body parts mister!" I raised my hands nervously as she brought her steaming hot ladle to bear like she was about to thump me across the head with it.

To try and placate the woman, I nodded my head hard until she put the spoon back into the bubbling stew. That out of the way, I was able to finish the cookies with little problem or threats of bodily harm for not speaking of past bodily harm. The dessert went into the oven just as the stew came off it.

Lunch was good and I had fun talking with everyone. Thomas and I managed to even stay civil with each other through the day. We got to the presents and I actually got something this year. The girls were combined into one and the other was from mom. The girls had gotten me a scroll case with a Wolf design on it. As I placed it onto my scroll, Becky explained, "Because you like wolves and all!"

I gave her a little smile, "and where did you come to that opinion?"

"You have that giant wolf tattoo on your back silly!" The youth said with a giggle. "why would you put something like that on your back if you hated it?"

"Jaune Isaac Arc! What does she mean by a tattoo on your back?!" Mom shrieked once more, this time in outrage.

I glared at the girl who had a false innocent look in her eyes. "I'll get revenge for that you know," I told the girl, causing the trio to giggle into their hands. A hand fell onto my shoulder and I slowly glanced over to see an apocalyptically angry mother staring at me. "Um, it's not really a wolf, more of a crest."

"Show me." I stared at her. "We're all family here, show me the tattoo and I will judge how I will react to it."

With a deep sigh, I asked, "if I don't you'll just tear off my suit, won't you?" Mom only gave me a raised eyebrow to confirm the obvious. "Fine," I exhaled before pushing myself to my feet. My jacket and holster was set into a pile as I pulled my shirt from over my head. "It's the Luka's town crest and motto. I got it after completing their training. It's treated with a dust mixture to never be damaged or distorted," I explained as I turned around. I kept my shirt covering my front to avoid the questions about the multiple gunshot wounds across my body. My back would have a few, but not enough for it to be too obvious.

I heard my mother growl, "If you were still living here, I would ground you faster than you could blink and give you an ass whooping." I smothered a laugh as I pulled my shirt back on and added the holster back onto my torso as I relaxed onto the couch next to my mother. "As is, I will warn you that you look like a delinquent, which will get you targeted in school."

I shrugged and caught a package heading to my face that Susie threw. I looked at it and saw it was large, but not too thick. I pulled the paper apart to see a complete tool set staring back at me. "Wow... Thanks mom!"

The woman sighed as she relaxed back into her seat. "You told me you were doing those labor jobs hunters loathed, so I thought you could use your own tool kit. Look under it." I flipped it over and saw a small envelope. Opening it, I drew out driving lessons forms. "Since you've been driving for so long, I registered you to take driving lessons so I won't have to bail you out of prison if you are caught driving without a license."

The trio snickered at me as I gave mom a giant hug. The rest of the day was fun. The girls were excited with my gifts as they were CDs of their favorite bands, five each. Nothing for the brute on the couch and I got mom a case of ammo for her mecha-shift gun, about five hundred rounds inside a metal can. "This... This is too much Jaune!" She said as she pulled the paper off the can.

My hand waved away her protest, "Nah. I have enough money laying around to support myself for years. I can spurge a bit on getting gifts for the family." It took some more convincing, but I got her to accept the ammo by the end. I couldn't use it after all.

By six, I was tired, so I gave my farewells and left to get home, maybe pick up some food on the way.

The rest of the break was spent going to the driving lessons which were all in the morning for me, taking up four hours a day for two weeks, most of the holiday. I easily aced the class as I already knew all of it, so I was able to finish my in-cars with the last three days of the holiday break.

It was boring driving around for two hours meaninglessly, but I did get my level to ten in Class C driving. By the end, I passed with flying colors and I just had to schedule a driving test at the DMV. I made it so that I could do everything at three, then I could get my license and drive to work right after.

Returning to school was boring. My first class felt like I was in kindergarten as it was literally the introduction to Engineering Design. The syllabus told me that we would be learning how to draw out stuff in CAD programs, which I had already taught myself on my free time for my scroll. We were even going to use the same program on the school's old shitty computers, so I could do the whole lesson already.

My English went fine, but it was the same as before so as long as I retained the skill to bullshit flowery text in my writing, I was good to go. Greek two with Mister Hale was Greek one with the man, to the point he sent me to the library to do my own thing so I didn't disturb the class with my reading.

AP psychology looked fun and the teacher reminded me of Mister Bark in that she had a story for everything. In the first week, we had gotten everything we wanted done, and I was still paying attention even though I was a fourth of the way through the text. There really was no end to my boredom and it's the textbook's fault too! It was too easy to understand and read! My insight skill was also augmented by the textbook apparently since I started gaining levels in it without using the skill.

After the first month, I could give less of a damn about coming to school. The only class I had fun in was psychology and the rest of the class I could pass while sleeping. IED to me was like being taught how to use a hammer while I was slamming rivets into metal. I just stuck myself in the back and worked on my Italian which was coming along swimmingly. I had even leveled up my language skills enough to get to the eighth linguistics level.

Outside of school was where I excelled. Junior seemed to have an unending supply of jobs that I was being sent to do around the city. It ranged from smuggling to protection details. Nothing extreme happened during anything I did. The highest profile was the bank heist and that was because I was needed to replace a guy that got offed the week before by his drug dealer. Guy didn't stick with his payments and he was punished for it.

On the beginning of February, I was stuck in the auditorium listening to the same spiel the principal gave last year. "Your future depends on this people. AP classes will get you in the best colleges! They don't care if you got good grades in normal classes, they care that you got good grades in the AP courses!"

This was beat in our heads for thirty more minutes until we were given a packet to fill out our future class choices. I picked Algebra two to continue my math credit, added AP Calculus to that so I could have that going into Beacon. The hunters probably already knew it, so I had to catch up to the curve. Chemistry, AP Physics as I still needed to know the science if I was going to get into the school. AP Vale history since AP classes were apparently so important. Engines and power one so I could learn more on welding along with Strength training two and English eleven to round out the year.

I signed the paperwork and made note to get mom to sign it this weekend when I went over. After school, I went back to my job after a day of hard work outs that were starting to slowly not improve my body as much as I was going for. I would need to get a bigger rock since the bars in gym next year were too weak to carry six hundred pounds.

They were made for civilians, so they could carry at most five hundred pounds, anymore and there was a chance of them bending. A hunter training gym was around, but they were for fully registered hunters, so that was out for the Tyro-Hunters.

* * *

**Here y'all go. The next chapter of the story. A bit of a filler, but hey, some chapters are fillers. The FC arcs coming up soon too. Hope you enjoy and I'll look forward to your feedback**


	18. Chapter 18

**Sorry, here a new chapter. Merry hoho and a happy December 31st**

* * *

Days turned into weeks and I found my life growing quite stale. It was a late February evening that I trudged into work for the day that I was called up to Junior's. He probably had a smuggling job for his information ring.

"Hawke! Good, you made it!" Ah yes, my nickname in the crime world. "Hawke." It was turned into a title that I wear proudly, if unknown to anyone else. It gave me Hawk-like abilities due to what I got the title for. While smuggling was big, I protected people for a distance with my rifle, but when the worse came to worse, I would always find a way to drop on the people attacking my clients. I had a twenty percent boost to ranged damage, ten percent for melee, but the real reason I kept it was the 20/5 eyesight I gained because I never missed any dangers near my clients with that perk with me.

"I've seen that you have gotten... stagnant recently." I gave Junior a raised eyebrow because I had no idea where he was going with this. "This is not a job in the normal sense. I've noticed you like training hand to hand, and I can't imagine getting live testing with an Ursa, so I have contacted my buddy in the pit fighting scene." The man gave me a smirk. "Go to 74 Walter's street, district 11, anytime between four and twelve for small matches and after one until six for big shows that were tougher with bigger paychecks. My man's name is Jimmy the Commentator, just ask for him and go by Hawke, he'll set you up in a fight."

I gave him a grin and nodded. "Thanks sir! You're right, punching an Ursa is incredible dangerous." We snickered at the image of me uselessly punching an Ursa in the face before I was dismissed back to do my job. I planned to stop by for one fight after work, but only do the fights on Friday and the weekends because of school.

My bike hummed to a stop along the line of cars bordering the streets. I could hear the roars of the fights from here, so I inventoried my helmet before turning off my bike. I stepped off the bike wearing my hoodie and cargos for a change. I couldn't help but feel a little weird about not wearing a suit to an outing after over a year of wearing them to everything but jobs.

Entering the building, an old warehouse, I saw a large bleacher of people with a cage in front of them that had two shirtless men beating the holy hell out of each other until one got a clean hit on that knocked the other out. Snorting out how funny the guy's face was when he got dropped, I found one of the armed guards around and asked, "Where can I find Jimmy?"

The guard gestured to a room on the opposite end of the room, just before the bleachers. "Thanks friend." My fist quietly knocked on the door and when I got a response, I opened the door to see a slightly obese redhead counting large stacks of money at his desk, a burning cigar on his lips.

"What can I do for ya?" The man asked without looking up from his stacks.

"Junior said you could get me in the fights." The man looked up and examined me from head to toe.

The man spit his cigar out of his mouth, having it land on the concrete floor where he smothered the flame with his boots. "Hawke, yes. I've heard of your bank gig from the grapevine. Excellent work, but how well can you fight?"

"I've killed an ursa with my fists," I told him in monotone. "Not a minor or anything, it was actually kind of a pushover, but I managed it." It was an ugly fight that caused a lot of blunt force trauma to my body and it was one of the lowest level ursa I'd ever seen, but I killed it.

The man gave me a toothy grin, exposing yellowing and rotting teeth that screamed meth use. "Good! I'll have to start you in the very bottom, but you can have an introduction match this very moment, c'mon!" The man pushed himself up, his chair creaking in relief from his body getting off it.

The man took the lead and hopped into the cage where his crew was dragging a man off. In the cage was a man that was taking his shirt off while the crew struggled with the unconscious man.

"We have a treat ladies and gentleman!" Jimmy called out, making spectacular motions with his arms. "A new fighter has arrived!" I looked around the arena with my hands in my hoodie pocket watching everything I could. "So today, we will have our own, Isaac Middleton versus the new blood, Hawke!" The crowd gave a roar as the man finished the announcement.

The fat man turned around and walked by me, stopping at my side. "Anything but weapons go, shirt off so no armor. No killing or you forfeit the reward. Have fun." The man continued walking out with a swagger in his step. My hoodie was taken off slightly subconsciously because my body still didn't have the definition of a normal Lukan guard. Strength sure, but not definition.

My opponent, a large man with lion ears on top of his head, gave me a toothy grin as he started circling me. I tossed the hoodie to the side, out of the white outline that took up most of the cage. "Come on!" The man yelled, still circling, "Show me what you got!"

My body got in an aggressive stance from Muay Thai as the lion man charged at me with claws out. Using the minimum amount of movement, I weaved around his insanely fast strikes that would put a Beowolf to shame, his claws ghosting over my skin as I do so.

The claw barely passed my chest when I struck out with my fist into his jaw, the meaty thud could be heard over the cheering crowd. The impact was hard enough to daze the man, so I gave him a few quick combos from boxing before I clinched his head in my arms and started working his body with powerful knee strikes.

When I saw the man starting to struggle, I pushed him back in time to avoid a claw to my chest. The man was holding his side as he stalked around me, lip bleeding freely to the ground. "O-okay, you got a little fight in you," the faunus said with a slightly worried ting in his voice.

My response was a vicious grin as I pressed an attack on him, sending the fighter to the defensive as my fist and legs began to shatter through his defense. It was a quick discovery that the man had worked solely on speed, relying on his claws to inflict all the damage and not his muscles. His desperate defense gave like Bolshoi wood under my hits and it wasn't long before he was on the ground, bleeding out of multiple places on his head.

One of the guards jumped into the cage and hustled me back, not that I fought the man pushing me back. I had gotten a good few effective clinches in, that man was done for the night after he allowed me to get a hold of his head. Another man hopped in, "And that's the fight! Let's give a hand to the new blood, HAWKE!"

The crowd's roar seemingly shook the warehouse as I was directed out of the cage once I had my hoodie. In that short fight, I had leveled up my two hand to hand skills two times, so I was more than happy since that would have taken a few weeks as it was now. Hell, I was ready to go again.

The announcer came over and gave me three hundred lien for the fight before telling me, "Okay, so you look ready for another fight, so here's how things work. You fight, two matches pass and then you fight again. We don't care how many you fight in a day, just that the more you win, the more we get from the losing gamblers." I gave him a nod as I watched the new fighters come into the cage. "Welcome to the fights, Hawke."

I never got to bed after that night. I stuck around for five more fights and thanks to the adrenaline of beating the hell out of guys, I didn't bother going home longer then needed for a shower. At seven, I found myself in school with two black eyes and a split lips in my finely pressed suit. A small grin maring my face from the night of fun. I was tired, but that wouldn't stop me from going back today to go through a few more fights.

All through the day, I kept getting strange looks due to the fact I had the face of someone that got the shit kicked out of them, but as like when they thought I was an insane murderer, I didn't let this affect me in the least.

Lunch came around soon and I was once more in the cafeteria eating my tasteless food as usual fast enough to get the food down, but slow enough to look like a well-mannered human being. My danger sense blared to life and I leaned back, allowing an apple to sail by my head and splatter against the wall.

My food was still being chewed when I looked over to see a jock with his nine buddies walking over, smug looks on their faces. I checked their stats out and found each had no more than fifty strength and even less everything else. Hell, their average INT score was nine. I continued to chew my food as I watched them approach me.

Just as they stopped in front of me, I swallowed my food. With a yawn, I stared at them so they could tell me what they wanted. After a pause, one of them stepped forward. "We are tired of you walking around like you are the top shit here, so me and the boys are here to put you in your place."

I sniffed once and got up, I was glad I had finished my meal before this as this would no doubt use the rest of my meal time. "And, how do you intend to do that?" I casually asked as I stepped up to eye level with the jock. 'They must think I'm weak due to the black eyes.'

The jock pushed me back and cried, "Get him!" As one, the group swarmed in this ill-planned, ill-advised, just generally stupid action to do in front of a school of people. The first one I met with a crushing right hook to the jaw that dropped him. As I let my arm follow through with the punch, I brought my left leg up and executed a barrel roll in the air to bring my leg down on one of the men's shoulder. Using my arm, I rolled along the ground back into a charge at the next guy. As I tore through the group, I couldn't help but feel pride that I pulled off a perfect Spartan combination even if it was against these weaklings.

As the last guy fell to a powerful headbutt, I brushed off my suit and gave it a tug to straighten everything out before yawning again. 'Man, I'm tired. Maybe not go to the fights today...' I took a large step over the moaning teens to reach my table again. Grabbing my tray, I brought it to the trash and dumped it under the watch of everyone.

My quiet footsteps sounded loud on the floor as I left the mess hall to go report this to the front office so my story could be followed before the people I beat the hell out of started to embellish it. As I walked, I made sure nothing on my suit was wrong, but I was sad to see there was some blood staining the cuffs of my sleeve, but the black covered it nicely.

The front office took my story right as the jocks were taken through to the nurse's office. I was sent to the principal's office for beating nine people, but I didn't really care. If I got suspended, I would just go home, sleep some, then go to the big fights tonight.

After being stared at for a few minutes by the principal after she read over the story, the woman finally opened her mouth. "So you fought these nine upstanding students on the premise that they started the fight."

I slowly nodded, eyebrows furrowed at her choice of words. "I did, the cry of 'get him' after saying they were going to show me my place tipped me off that they were going to fight me." The woman didn't reply and only tapped her fingers against the table as she stared at me some more.

"Well, the evidence points in your favor, however," the woman adopted a smug look. "I can't let you get away with beating up my football team, so a week of suspension for each person you beat up. I think that's fair."

I could only stare at her before I exploded, "What the hell do you mean a week for each?! That's two months of school!"

The woman shrugged, "Should've thought of that before injuring your school mates in a brawl. We do not condone violence in this school." In a rage, trying to avoid caving the bitch's face in, I pushed myself to my feet and ripped the door open before leaving the room. "Hey, we are not done here!" I heard her shout after me.

I yelled back as I walked out, "Yes we are, you stupid bint! You can add another week for all I care for that comment! Make it ten weeks, round up the fucking number!" I opened the door to the outside and angrily made my way to the parking garage where I got on my bike and drove off to sleep my anger out. I realized I made things worse quite quickly, but I wasn't apologizing. I meant every word.

Two years ago, I'd have never acted like that. I really have changed.

I got up at five and made it to work on time feeling better, trying to lessen the blow of the months of suspension. 'I could train harder for the D class test, do more pit fighting for hand to hand experience. Do more hunting jobs since I could drive now, which saved so much time. I didn't even have to fight the grimm that chased me on the road on a motorcycle. Yeah, this isn't too bad!'

My mood a bit better at the prospect that I could help people now that I didn't need to go to school helped me get through work without ending in a bad mood.

The fighting in the pits went well and I even gained a few people betting in my favor! The last fight for the evening almost did me in since they were a bear Faunus, they had the hardiness that was tough to overcome while avoiding strikes that could destroy concrete, but I managed after twenty minutes by exhausting the man into giving up.

My days picked up from there. With all the free time I had, I started doing more and more jobs for Junior, always giving him twenty percent as was expected of him setting everything up. Ranging from over watching a deal as cover to smuggling things into the city from the docks, I did many things that would be considered amoral, that was if I didn't just categorize them as jobs that gained me money and experience. When I wasn't breaking dozens of laws helping out an intelligence and smuggling organization, I was doing more building jobs for the people affected by grimms.

It wasn't long before I had made a name for myself in both aspects of my life. In the two months I was free, I had quickly risen in the ranks to the champion of the bottom tier of fighters inside the pit with my ever improving hand to hand fighting style. I even joined with the sword fighting section that was available once you proved yourself in the ring that helped me sharpen my sword skills even more than my hand to hand. I was having trouble moving up to the next rank due to that weird thirty to sixty percent boost everyone seemed to have there, so even if my score was close to theirs, they were harder to damage for unknown reasons. Not only did my skills improve, the constant strafe did my main scores good, leveling them up faster thanks to the bodily risk I had involved.

The crime world was abuzz with my callsign thanks to all the jobs I did that never failed once on my part. The protection detail gone wrong was warped into a hit on Robber over the grapevine, so my name was attached to a high profile job that ended one of the big drug leaders of Vale. This was a mixed package because I really didn't do hits, not my thing.

On the hunting front, even for people that had no idea what my name was, I was called "The Builder" due to the how a good two thirds of my huntsman jobs were to build things for grimm hit villages. I even got a title of the same name that boosted my building speed by forty percent which I put on every time I had to craft something. It made things so much easier since I could make a basic house in a dozen or so hours solo. Electricity and the likes took a lot longer, but I could wire a house in twelve hours with some competent helpers.

Not that the nickname was a bad thing, oh no. This was actually said with affection for the people that knew me in the business. While hunters hated doing the construction jobs, most not even knowing a lick of the craft, they saw how it was necessary and were happy someone was doing them that knew what he was doing. I even got a few pats on the back from high class hunters that saw me. It felt... wonderful to be appreciated which was why I still did it. Hunting down grimm was alright, but nothing like seeing the happiness a new home brought.

One day in April after months of just training, fighting, and building in dangerous territories, I decided off a whim for a day off. It was a spur of the moment thing and seeing as Junior's was closed down for the night for repairs from a broken gas line, I didn't have work.

I went off to Luka to check how things were doing after giving what I would do a thought. I also wanted to go there to get a few new tattoos for the hell of things. I had a full back one and I was thinking of adding some sleeves to my collection. In my dangerous profession, I didn't want them mared or anything like that.

It didn't take long by bike, but the road apparently attracted grimm along the way, so I ended up running over a crossing beowolf which thankfully didn't hurt my bike.

It was around one on the Saturday afternoon that I rode into town and parked my bike in the lot given for tourists and supply truckers. I noticed an increased amount of dead grimms along the wall, but things seemed fine in all. The sun was beating down on me, but I still wore my Luka hoodie along with some jeans and my wore cap.

Walking down the main street brought a smile to my face seeing how everything was doing. The buildings looked in great condition and everyone seemed happy with life. It was easy to find the artist's house and I knocked on his door. The older man opened it after a moment and looked at me. "Hello there... Arc was it?"

I smiled at the man as I took off my shades. "Hey man, how've you been?"

"Great! So you here for my special ink?" I gave him a grin. "Awesome, come in, come in!" I followed the man into his building and was brought to his tattoo parlor in the back. "So what would you like?"

I pulled out two drawings I made with my limited skill. "I have the basics drawn out, but my artistic skills leave much to be desired. More of a theme for the tattoo really." The man took them and looked the pictures over. "Sorry you have to see such eyesores," I chuckled out as I sat on a chair that would be used for arms.

"Nonsense, you should see things the men submit to me sometimes, those are works of nightmares." We shared a laugh at the expense of my former comrades. "Shirt off." I did so and he pulled out his tattoo needle.

It was a long process, but the man was able to paint two beautiful tattoo sleeves on my arms after only five hours of work. I had expected to have to come back tomorrow to get it finished, but he did great and quick work. He even told me about the dust mixture he added to the ink afterwards. It was apparently yellow dust mixed with some red, let sit for a while, then dulled in water for a few days. Added some white to nullify the explosive capabilities of the red, let sit for a bit more, scrapped out of the water, and then when it was needed to be used, just add some more new water to it.

The dust mixture came out and the two sleeves were brushed with the stuff, but the burn was more dulled than I remember. Now that I knew it was the yellow dust that did it, I was prepared for a small shock too, so it really didn't bother me too much. "There you are, how does it look?"

On my left arm , I saw exactly what I wanted. A rose tattoo. The tattoo occupied the entire upper arm. Two roses on the upper arm, staggered so one was moving to the shoulder and the lower one was tilted slightly back. A grey background that slowly faded to a darker black as it stopped just in the middle inner arm, a few inches below the elbow joint. A vine of thorns came from under the roses that branched out into two braided vines that went a different direction, curving inward towards the inner arm and stopped at the black.

On my right arm was to commemorate all the destruction I had caused in such a short time. A woman wearing tattered robes that had a cowl which covered the eyes and nose stood, pale hands clasped together, praying with a dirk pointed downward in her grasp. The shadowed eyes glowed with dull red light that stood out in the black and grey of the tattoo. In front of the robes, covering the bottom half of the forearm to the wrist was a pile of skulls, nine in total of varying sizes, each with a killing wound. Some had a bullet hole, others had chunks missing, and one had a deep slit in the side of the head that it exposed.

I gave him a grin to show I liked it as I reached behind my back and tossed him twenty thousand lien for his work. Chump change for what I usually did. A dangerous surveillance job gave me that and that was just three nights of my life. "That enough for the work?" The man opened the pouch of money and stared at it with wide eyes and could only nod.

I gave him a farewell wave as I pulled back on my sweatshirt, mindful of the sore skin from the tattoos. The rest of my Saturday was spent catching up with some of my old comrades around the wall when the raid alarm suddenly started blaring while I was talking with one of my old buddies. Through his radio, I heard, "We have a grimm invasion! West side!"

My buddy look at me and I looked at him. We both bolted at the same time towards the invasion spot. While we hustled through the crowd, I summoned my sniper to my hands as well as put a few spare magazines into my hoodie pocket. 'I need to get an ammo mesh. Why does this happen on my day off?' I vaulted up the stairs ahead of Daniel, who was one of my guarding partners for a little bit back in the day, and slid to a halt along the line of firing guards.

I popped my bipod out and placed the rifle against the chest high wall as I looked through the scope to see over a hundred beowolves charging the wall. Bullets were hitting them, but they were strong enough to shake off the hits with barely a stumble. I lined up my first shot and squeeze the trigger. My bullet tore through the grimm's mask and it dropped to the ground, quickly trampled by its packmates. They weren't too tough, but they were a cut above the weaklings I was use to.

**Minor Beowolf**

**level 21**

**450/450**

Correction, they were far above the usual level of beowolves I had fought. They were even above my first job that almost killed me. 'Well, shit,' I mentally said as I fired again into their numbers, my high caliber bullet punched a hole into another's head.

This started the unexpected battle for me and my gun was soon firing along with the guardsman trying to hold back the charge. Grimm after grimm dropped, but only were replaced by more and more that came swarming out of the forest. This charge must have been building for days!

A cry came over the radio, "Grimm from the east! We need back up! There are too many and they have Alphas! It's another organized raid!" Many broke off to help, but I stayed behind to help hold off the grimms that were invading. The monsters hit the wall and started climbing it was vigor, their sharp claws biting into the stone as they scaled.

I grabbed the shoulder of one of the guards to my left, "Hold me!" The man stared at me with a raised eyebrow before I bent over the side of the wall. This was when he understood what I said, not wanting a hug, just a support so I didn't fall face first into death. With my new position, I rapidly shifted my weapon around, barrel spitting out bullets as fast as I could pull the trigger. Wolves dropped from the walls quickly, but more and more took their place. With a sigh, I dropped my rifle into my inventory and summoned my shield and blade.

With my sword arm, I reached back and hit the wrist of the man holding me using the pummel, making him let my shirt go. My shield was in front of my face as I slammed into the line of grimm from above and bounced off them. With the momentum, I flipped around so that I could get a drop stab onto the back of one of the grimms.

I quickly ripped my blade out of the dying creature to behead one lunging at me at the same time as shield bashing another back. Bullets slammed around me into the grimms as I spun my black steel around, slicing a path of death and mayhem through the numbers of grimms, but I was too slow to catch everything, too weak to completely bisect a grimm of this caliber.

My blade would cut mostly through the grimm, but stop nearing the end of their stomach since I didn't have the muscles to completely slice a minor in half all the way. Once my sword had gotten stuck the fourth time, I summoned up my menu and quickly boosted myself to new heights. My score was high before at;

**Name: Jaune Arc  
****Level: 35  
****Next level: 7%  
****Title: Hawke  
****HP: 3910  
****MP: 2390 + 90%  
****STR : 152  
****VIT: 173  
****DEX: 136  
****INT: 97  
****WIS: 75  
****LUK: 28  
****Points: 95**

My mind rapidly pressed buttons as I absently batted away the grimms that tried to make me and the town its meal of the day. I couldn't just let people die because I was stingy as hell with my points!

**Name: Jaune Arc  
****Level: 35  
****Next level: 7%  
****Title: Hawke  
****HP: 4450  
****MP: 2390 + 90%  
****STR : 172  
****VIT: 200  
****DEX: 170  
****INT: 97  
****WIS: 75  
****LUK: 32  
****Points: 10**

I kept my logical stats as they were as well as a spare ten points because I really didn't like not having some back up points, but with the eight-five points I added to everything, I was like a new man! The grimms turned from an overwhelming threat, to an overwhelming threat that I was tearing through like a hunter should be able to!

The roar of gunfire became a comforting background noise as my body didn't stop moving. I was rolling, flipping, slashing, and all in between as I used the Spartan style to the fullest while covering my defense with the Valian shield stances that I dropped into when I couldn't avoid a hit.

Sweating and panting hard, I circled around the beowolves after an unknown amount of time fighting. The gunfire had ceased for some reason but I didn't check to find out, I had priority centered around killing the grimm over here.

My health was low, at around a thousand points left and my mana pool was lowish, but I didn't have too many things active, just my free-running to enhance my movement speed as well as helping me vault around the grimms, so my regen rate took care of that.

As if a silent signal went up, the pack and I charged at each other anew. I did a quick count as I met them. There were twenty still remaining from the couple hundred that attacked the wall. Almost two hundred had died by the time I had fallen and with the help of the wall, but I must have killed over a hundred of these weak creatures in my power rush.

My blade came down on the skull of one, the well crafted blade had a bit of trouble biting through the bones due to the lack of an edge of the weapon at this point. It was like using a butter knife, it could cut, but it was more brute force that got the job done than the blade itself.

As the blade exited the skull of the grimm, my shield came forward in an instinctive movement and slammed against the skull of the incoming grimm, dazing it to give me enough time to dispatch one of its brothers before ending its existence.

Like when I was overwhelmed when I was fourteen, the normal grimms were not the problem in the grand scheme, it was what came after that was the issue and that issue was across the town, so I was safe for the moment. I made quick work of the grimm remaining, hacking limbs off to impaling skulls with the bottom part of my heater shield. The twenty were tough, but I had fourteen levels over them and years of hardcore training to back that up.

My shield hit the face of a lunging grimm when a screech of metal went through the air. As I plunged my gladius into the body of the monster, I checked my shield out. The blade hit the dirt through the stilling corpse as I saw a large dent above where my arm was. Combining that dent with the wear it had through the battle and the shield was basically useless. With a growl, I tossed the shield away and walked through the field of death. I saw some shiney things on the ground, but I wasn't done. 'If only there was auto-loot on so I didn't ha-' "**Auto-Loot enable? Yes/No**" I gave another growl as I hit yes and the shiney stuff flashed out and I saw it appear in a new tab within my inventory that was called "To be looked at."

With a snarl, I took off at a sprint to rejoin the battle on the other side of the wall. As I ran, my hoodie came undone from the damage it had taken, leaving me with just my blood-soaked and torn jeans with my boots on. My hat had gone back into my inventory as I was talking to people.

My legs were kicking up the dirt as I forced myself to move faster to the other end of the town. I could hear faint gunfire from the walls, but as I reached the edge, I saw many, MANY dead grimms littering the ground, but none of the living were still there. Once I saw this, I turned around and made my way to one of the gates, entering the town to see a bloodbath in the streets. Guards were fighting the grimms, but they were being tackled by ones that would circle around them.

My overdo skill activated and I burst into action, tearing through the normal beowolves that had broken through the line. My path of death took me to where the gunfire was echoing until I found myself staring at the barracks with shooters in all the windows, blowing apart any grimm that took a step forward with the combined might of nine guns.

Nox spun in my hand before I darted forward, stealth mode enabled as I veer to the side towards where I saw the alphas were grouping. As I approached them, I used a market stall to vault up onto the roofs. My speed slowed to a crawl as I approached my target. There were four of them in total from what I could see, and they were waiting for the small fries to soften up their targets before fighting.

**Minor Alpha Beowolf  
****Level 35  
****4000/4000**

This was going to be a hard won fight. Once I was over one, I stepped off the roof and my blade pierced through the spiked mask on the grimm's head and allowed the blade to scrambled the brain of the grimm, ending its life before it could know anything was wrong. With my surprise still fresh, I used some more of my overdo skill to decapitate the alpha next to me, which felt like hitting a concrete wall with a bat, but with my strength, it was a fatal hit, then I turned and sank my blade hilt deep into a third's eye before the last alpha registered what was happening. There was a flash of black and I was batted across the street, through the barrack's window.

A yelling went up as I slammed my legs into the frame so I spun into the room where I was lucky to bounce off a bed before I hit the unyielding concrete. Nox scraped against the ground as I picked myself up, my chest bruised from the painful backhand. "Man that bitch can hit," I moaned as I staggered to my feet.

"You alright, soldier?" I heard a man ask. I glanced over and saw an older Shardis looking at me.

"Aye sir. Nothing a little sleep once everything is dead can't fix," I answered back as I stretched out my back, sore from the impact to the floor. The man nodded and went back to directing his men in fighting. Checking around, I saw there were many citizens in the middle of the room, while more had guns and were fighting against the grimms that were threatening their well-being.

With free-running still active, I jogged across the room to the armory where I grabbed a shield and a whetstone. I dragged the stone along my blade quickly, trying to get some edge back before I went back out there and killed things.

With my skill in sharpening, my blade was in top shape within five minutes with the added bonus of seventy percent damage to it. Scratching my head, I got to my feet and walked over to where the main force of grimms were. "Reloading!" One of the guards called out near the front, so I dashed towards his window before someone got in the way and threw myself out with my sword speared out.

My blade clipped a grimm that was advancing, but that didn't do much more than make it hesitate. That was all that was needed as a burst of bullets blew the side of its head off. As I rolled from my diving charge, I spun on my back and kicked myself up and over a swiping grim, bringing my leg down into an axe kick to stun the creature that was followed by a stab with Nox.

I fell into battle much like I did with the Vandals and the grimms that caused me to boost myself to new heights. Every swing took off something and every bash broke a limb or face that tried to strike me. As my blade fell another grimm, a battle cry came from the barracks and guards streamed out with swords held high as they descended onto the grimm like an avalanche of steel.

With my comrades in the fight, the grimms didn't last long, the alpha was swarmed to the point where it couldn't even move to draw back before the paper cuts turned into gashes that soon removed limbs. It was butchery with no finesse nor style, but it got the job done and we were soon standing over the bodies of the fallen, grimm and human alike.

I wiped my blade off on one of the cleaner parts of my pants before I sheathed her back at my waist. The shield, it was dented more than my heater, useless to anyone, so I just tossed it to the ground and wiped grimm blood from my eyes .

There was no celebration nor cheer as the citizens came out of the barracks. There was too much death for that, even though it looked like most of the citizens made it through things alive. Many of the guards couldn't say the same.

I found my seat on one of the alphas that I had slain and pulled out my camera. On the notebook I had taken for my memorable battles, I wrote, "Luka Town Guard along with freelancer Jaune Arc, hundreds of grimm, Luka." I added the date, then ripped out and tossed the paper down before snapping a quick picture of the carnage with the text in it. Once the picture was on the scroll where I tossed that back into my inventory, I kicked the bloodstained paper back into the storage and rested my head in my hands. The habit of documenting my notable fights still strong in my mind.

A series of windows popped up as the battle was over. Many skills had leveled up and I had apparently accepted a quest to defend Luka which added with all the killing, netted me three levels. I didn't care about that, today was a failure. Luka was injured and many were dead in the street. I shuddered to think what would have happened if I hadn't gotten the drop on those three alphas before they could join in the fight.

I might have assisted in turning the battle into a bittersweet day, so that Luka may survive longer, but this was without any doubt in my mind, a lost battle. By a rough count alone, I saw over seven dozen guards dead.

My mana was all but gone from the overdo and free-running. My body hurt from exertion and the many wounds that hopefully were not deep enough to scar around my entire body. I could hear the wails of people as they found deceased love ones around and the mourning of the guard as they separated their dead from the grimm. "Thank you whoever you are," I heard a male voice say in front of me.

I looked up to see Shardis standing over me with a grim expression on his face. I gave him a wiry smile which was more of a grimace. "Couldn't just let you fight this alone, plus I owe you all for setting me on the way for what I am today. A hunter has to defend the people right?" I gave a strained crooked smile.

The man stared at me before his eyes widened. "Private Arc?" I gave him a small grin but had to spit out some of the grimms blood that got into my mouth. "I see that time has been good for you. It was a blessing that you came when you did. I don't think we could have lasted those alphas when they would join. This wasn't the first assault, but damned if it wasn't the most successful."

I gave a shaky nod as I pushed myself up to my feet. "Just helping out. I should probably get going. I'm sorry for the loss." I gave the man a quick nod and stumbled away, the break letting my body realize how tired it was. The tourist parking lot was covered in bullet holes and grimm bodies with a few guardsman here and there, but my bike had somehow made it through with just being knocked over with a bullet hole in the seat. Lifting up my bike, I walked it out of the town before mounting it.

The trip back to the city was a morbid one where I absently scrolled through what I had gotten from the battle. A few tens of thousand from all the dead grimms, some jewels, trash materials, an armor set, and one skill book that just gave me three levels in Machinist, teaching me how to craft Military Bullhead parts and a new skill in engineering called **Aircraft Mechanic (Passive):** level 1- Ability to work on and maintain aerial vehicles. +5% speed and quality of work on aerial vehicles.

That would be cause for excitement, but after seeing Luka destroyed in that massive grimm assault, I didn't really feel celebratory. The armor set was called;

**Masterwork lightweight layered armor– Armor made for those of the stealthy aspects of life that doesn't want to give up the protection of a knight.  
****10000/10000  
****Defense 35  
****Special: Can fit any size humanoid. Size controlled by a thought and a spike of Mana.**

The set was a chest piece with some upper arm segments kept on by black leather straps going around the arms that had two pieces each with the upper half overlapping the bottom. The chest piece acts as some tank top made of scaled like steel that went to just above my waist line

Since I was without any clothing on my upper body and my outfits except for a suit, but I had too much blood on me for that, I pulled over to put the new armor on. Once everything was on, I thought, 'loose-ish, but tight enough to protect' then I focused on the feeling of my mana and projected that into my hand before slapping the metal scaled front. The armor quickly molded to the desired shape and hung off me like a t-shirt.

Satisfied with the armor, I hopped back onto my bike and rode the rest of the way back to Vale, the frown on my face not moving. The guards eyed my bloody self, but once I showed my hunting license, they allowed me to pass with no further questions, telling me there was a hospital down the road.

* * *

**So, one or two chapters away from the far cry arc where I planned a good bit of Jaune's personality setting. Thanks for reading guys! **


	19. Chapter 19

**Decided to release this chapter seeing as its the anniversary of the man that made such a great world and inspired me to take writing more seriously.**

* * *

I didn't bother to do anything more for the day and just went back to my apartment. I saw the landlord stare at me, but he wisely didn't speak with me after I threw a glare his way. Once in my bare apartment, I pulled out my Italian culture book of the day and cracked it open. I needed to keep my mind off what happened. The Gamer mind kept me from falling to depression, but I still felt it if I didn't distract myself. In the five months I had been working on the language, I had made great progress and was at level eighty-eight. I would switch to the next one in the group once I reached ninety percent.

On Sunday, I forced myself out of the apartment to go do some good as a hunter and get to D class so I could do some of the construction jobs in the _really_ dangerous areas, stuff where sloths of Ursa are seen regularly and the guards need all the help they could get. I wasn't qualified to kill a sloth, but I could hold them off while we got everyone out.

I had another simple burnt orange hoodie on with my black scale armor under that as I walked into the hunting office. People only gave me a glance, but ultimately ignored me since I was a regular here. "Hey Frederick," I greeted the secretary on duty for the morning.

"Hey Builder. What do you need?" The man greeted me as he typed away at his computer.

"Here to schedule a D class test. Any spots available today?"

The man tapped on his keyboard a few times and hummed. "You are lucky, Arc. Signal is starting their yearly F rank test tomorrow and the rest of the week. Um, yeah, at nine, we have one open with Mentez and one at twelve with Pond. Oh!" The man saw something. "There is one open now with Pond, the guy just canceled."

"Cool, sign me up for Mentez's one. I need to go replace my shield." The man nodded and with a few clicks, I was signed up. "Cya." The secretary waved bye without looking up from the screen. I made my way to the local blacksmith for my shield and bought the same basic shield that I usually carried around.

I had an hour to kill, so I grabbed some breakfast from on of the vendors on the street, some more grimm meat, before driving back to the office. The shield was now strapped to my back by a simple leather strap across my chest and Nox at my hip. Since I had some time left before the test, I leaned against the wall and watched huntsmen and huntresses go about their business.

Most were just hanging out, waiting for their teams to arrive so that they could go on the dangerous jobs while others were trying to decide on what job they should do. "Builder!" I heard called out from a youngish voice. I glanced over and saw what I think was an eighteen year old girl. "Hey, um, do you know anything about fixing... Bullheads?"

I stared at her for a second through my glasses and answered, "Um... A bit. I would know the difference between a Bullhead engine and a truck's, but not much else. Sorry."

The woman rubbed her head before asking, "How about an armored APC? I got my hands on a lot of junked vehicles that grimms had taken out and I am looking for someone that knows what they're doing to fix them up. Your name kinda came up."

I nodded after hearing this. "I know the APCs and I've fixed up a few trashed engines of tractors and trucks. I could give things a look at if you want. I can't promise that I'll be able to fix them, but I'll look."

"Awesome! Um, here's the address of the place I have the vehicles. When should I expect you to swing by?"

I took the address and saw that it was about five miles outside of the west outpost, a hundred miles away. "A little far, but if Mentez doesn't knock me out, I should be able to get there by one, maybe a little earlier." The girl gave me a large grin as she said thanks and left. I pocketed the card and checked the time in my glasses to find that I had three minutes left. Shrugging, I left the main room and walked to the testing area.

Nine came around and I opened the door to see Chris sharpening his blade. He looked up and checked his computer. "Ah, Arc. I see you did take my advice! I would like to apologize for having you fight Glynda, she can be brutal with her tests."

"No problem, I passed and that's all that mattered. Meant to get a new sword anyways and having mine blown up was a good incentive," I lightheartedly replied to the man as I drew Nox and my shield.

The man nodded as he looked me over, "So where is your rifle, Hawke?" I froze, but put a grin on my face.

I was going to try and lie, but his raised eyebrow stopped that. "Not a good situation for sniping. I'm not that great of a hunter or fighter to use recoil to assist my actions. My abilities lie in building and guard work," I told the man with a sheepish grin. "So, how do you know about my job?"

The huntsman grinned as he pulled out twin daggers from his back and gave them a twirl. "You're not the only hunter that works in the shade. I've seen some of your pit fights and heard rumor of your guard details. I'm impressed, Hawke, that you have such a diverse skillset." I gave him a small smile as I took an aggressive stance. "Same rules, this time I will use a blade."

On blade, I had already started moving and gave fast swipes at the man who parried them aside and lashed out with his own weapons which I blocked with my shield and sword. Our steel flashed out when we could fit it into the fight, but it was ultimately useless as Chris wasn't trying as hard as he could have been and I wasn't close to the man's level.

I threw some kicks out as I swung my blade in feints, but he predicted them and blocked the attacks with his legs. This seemed to have impressed the man enough that he added his own martial art into his style, so I was soon being battered by limbs as I blocked the sharp objects coming for my head. With my experience in my boxing skills, I was able to weave around some of the hits and block the leg strikes, but they were bruising to say the least.

I didn't stay still, but that didn't seem to matter. The man wasn't at all fazed by the fact I flipped around him like a demented monkey, swinging sharpened steel in a style that would have shredded a lesser man to ribbons. As I rolled across the ground, I came up charging with my shield overhead, hearing a dull thud of the metal against it so I slanted the shield to the side and did a spinning leg sweep at the man which he skipped over and gave me a kick across the jaw.

As I spun with the hit and launched an attack in return from my kneeling position, I asked aloud through pants, "How, do, you really, test, hunters? I heard, from Frederick, that, this, wasn't normal." I gave a hard front kick into his guard and he bounced backwards with it before jetting forward at a speed I could barely follow and giving the same kick in retaliation that put a boot sized dent in my shield.

"I normally have to give a safety test on basic dust use, weapon use, and such. Some trials with that gun course over in the other room if they were using ranged combat, and use a hunter that took a trial job for that day to spar against them to see if they were satisfactORY!" The man explained before he gave a hard spin kick into my shield arm that caused the limb to bend at an awkward angle with a loud crack.

I hissed as I kicked at the man to push him back, "Dammit! Why is it always the left?! It's so hard to drive a bike without a left arm!" I yelled as I flung my shield away and charged in with just Nox in hand.

Without my shield, my armor was the only thing in the way of the blades I missed blocking, but I knew how to fix up this stuff thanks to a skill I gained fixing up my bullet vest when I took a few rounds to it in a fight. To avoid losing, I activated my overdo and started slamming my blade into the daggers in a deadly dance of blade and limbs.

Mentez seemed surprised at the sudden ferocity of my offensive style and it took him a second to adapt to the change by moving faster, but I did make him adapt all the same which was a slight win in my book.

A minute passed and my blade was getting duller, my armor weaker from the many strikes to it, and my mana was running on fumes. I gave a hard strike and the man dodged it with ease, my exhaustion making me sloppy. As I was moving forward, I got a punch to the face that broke my nose and cut open my cheek. I couldn't recover from the exhaustion and my knees hit the ground as I fell past the older man, sending a jarring through my arm which made another hiss explode from my lips. "Well... Shit," I cursed as I tried to get back to my feet, but my mana cut out taking away my strength with it. Adding in my exhaustion of going all out and over my physical limit for a minute and some, I was done for the next two hours. "I lost again."

"I never put a timer, you still have time," Mentez told me as he looked down at me.

I sighed as I tried to get to my feet, but managed to only fall on my ass. "Nah... No, I'm... I'm well past my limit right now." After taking a deep breath, I was able to crawl to my feet, but nearly went down as my knees almost refused to let me stay up. "How long did I last? I hope it was more than five minutes or I will be even more disappointed."

The man checked the time. "Nine ten. You lasted a good ten minutes and three of those minutes were with a broken arm going what I assume was past your limits. Impressive."

I chuckled as I sheathed my blade back in its home as I slowly shuffled over to my shield. "Yeah, impressive." I looked over the shield. "Man, you even put your boot's logo into my shield," I laughed out when I saw the damage. It was tossed into my inventory where I would buff out the dent later. "I guess I'll go train more in speed, try to be able to block your hits more."

"No need, Hawke." I looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. "I had to fight at a fifth of my power. Going all out, you can take down a minor Ursa solo, something that some Beacon students have trouble with in their freshman year. I'll send up the confirmation that the famed builder can now take on even more dangerous projects. Have fun."

I gave him a bloody grin before I cracked my nose back into place. With a hard snort, blood was ejected from my nose so that I could breath clearer. After shifting my nose a bit to get it just right, I gave Mentez a nod before leaving the room.

I wiped my nose off onto my sleeve to get most of the blood off my face, but some were still stuck in my blonde beard that I was growing. I kept it trimmed to be just long enough not to be just a stubble every once in awhile when I remember to groom myself.

I arrived at the front desk and handed him my card. He took it without looking up and inserted it into his computer. "Hey Frederick, could you do me a favor?"

The man typed a few keys in before asking, "What do you need, Arc?"

"Could you set my arm for me. I don't have the needed endurance to do it myself at the moment."

"Set your a-... Holy damn, Builder, did the spar go bad or something?!" I shook my head and watched him quickly walk out from behind his desk. I held up my arm, the upper bone broken mostly in half and my arm was a bit to the side, which I compensated for by holding my shoulder towards my chest. The man grabbed the arm and I gave him a nod. "Okay. Here we go."

With a sharp crack, the bone broke more, but it was straight again. The new break was bad enough for me to let out a yelp and I couldn't stop myself from crying out, "Son of a whore, ah that hurts!" As I brought my arm tight against my body. Fighting through the waves of pain, I patted Frederick on the shoulder and said in a strained voice, "Thanks buddy, made D class, so can you set that up now?"

The man slowly nodded and took the card I offered with my good arm. In a few moments, I had it back with the needed changes to it.

Holding my arm close to my body, I leave the office under the stares of a few people that witnessed my little exchange and hop onto my bike. I force my arm to work and get the engine to come to life before I drove off to help that girl with her vehicles. The trip over was painful, but I managed to get there by twelve forty, so I wasn't late or anything.

The place was full of cars that looked burnt to hell and a few junked birds that looked no where near flight capable. My bike stopped right outside one of the little shacks and I parked her before tossing the keys and helmet into my inventory.

As I dismounted the bike, the girl I saw earlier came out in greasy overalls and her black hair in a ponytail. "Yo. What do you need me to look at?"

She grinned before beckoning me to follow. I kept my arm close to my chest, using the leather strap from my shield holster as a makeshift sling. I followed the girl deep into the junkyard to a group of cars and along with a few aircraft hanging around. These looked salvageable at least. "I'll pay you to fix these up, to working order. I'll pay for all the parts of course too." I nodded as I opened the hood of a few of the cars and saw some ballistic damage here, some claw damage there, and one truck looked like it was taken down by a death stalker to the engine block. The aircraft I looked at all had some trauma issues from what must have been Nevermore deciding they looked fragile enough to ram.

"Alright... I'll get a few books of bullheads to see if I can fix some of this damage, but the trucks, I can start now." The woman grinned and nodded at my words, happy I could start so soon. I went to the closest, least damaged truck and got to work. I was just helping someone out and killing time, so I didn't really care about the money. The skill levels were worth it by themselves and it was a productive way to spend a day that didn't risk my life.

By the time eight came around, even with only one arm, I had the truck up and running after scavenging some parts from the junkyard around with the permission of the woman. "Those things are going to rot here until the day they are puddles. Take whatever you need from them." Was her phrasing.

As I worked, I sang to myself to pass the time and help myself ignore the pain that kept shooting through my arm at every movement. I checked my status and found it wasn't severe so it would be in shape after a week's rest.

I guessed I could use my afternoons here until I had to go back to school in three weeks. It would be a good use of time when I wasn't doing illegal acts through the night that had slowly replaced my job as a guard since I actually racked in a lot of money for Junior with his cut than my expert guarding of a bar that didn't have too much trouble. Pit fighting would still take my nights until five, but I could do four hours here before doing a hunting gig in the afternoon.

My plan in place, I took my broken ass back home to sleep off my rough day. By morning, my arm was feeling better and I was back at the junkyard working on trucks as ten came around. By the time two came around, I was level nineteen at automotive repair and the engines were purring to life with a simple turn of the key.

I lined up the finished trucks in one side. By the end of my time there for the day, I had made nine out of the fifteen supply trucks workable and three of the nine APCs workable as well, if in need of some armor plating. I packed up my tools and went off to grab a quick job from the hunting office.

My first D ranked job wasn't anything to brag about. I went out, killed a large pack of leaderless beowolves, and came back with time to spare. My night was spent doing a quick smuggling job for one of Junior's clients and than three hours in the pits where I didn't level anything up, but did work out some of my energy that had built up in the day. I gained a bit more money fighting on a disability too, makes the crowd bet more.

The change to a D ranked hunter didn't really affect my life like I thought it would of. The new jobs were nothing special. The grimm hunts were just a bit more dangerous, but I had fought off worse, so in my opinion, they weren't that dangerous.

By the time the third week had finished, my job at the junkyard had come to a close as I finally figured out how to work on the Bullheads halfway through the second week, so once the land vehicles were done, I had a week to finish up the aircraft set and there were only three of them to work on. Due to all my work with the engines to make them in top condition, I had gotten to level twenty-four in my mechanic skill and with my introduction to aerial vehicle repair, I had gotten that skill to level seven.

On the second to last day of my break, I did a once over check and everything turned out fine, just a bit of tightening here and there and everything was top. They just needed body work beyond replacing panels which I had done on a whim with the damaged segments so I knew that I could do it later.

Michelle, the owner of the junkyard and part time huntress, tried to pay me a lot of money because apparently Bullhead repair was insanely hard, but the fact she taught me the basics of piloting after fixing the first bullhead to the point I got the skill, made me cut that price right on down until we settled on thirty grand for the whole thing. Fifteen trucks, nine APCs, and three military Bullheads repair, so I saw thirty thousand enough and it also covered my tattoos and living expenses for the past month. I had millions of lien in my bank accounts, so money really wasn't an issue for me at the moment. Hell, other than gas, apartment payments, and food, I didn't buy much of anything since I made my own ammo or looted it while doing all my repairs myself.

The only job I went on after this was a simple search and destroy of a twenty pack of beowolves. A simple job after a few weeks of hunting much more dangerous targets. I found them and started cutting into them before one caught me across the hit just got to me for some unknown reason and I slammed my fist into the beowolf in retaliation, but for some reason, the sudden emotions that reared up didn't calm down in the least.

I found myself keeping this one beowolf down as I cut his packmates apart. My actions made no sense to me, even as I kneeled on the chest of the downed grimm before I repeatedly stabbed it in the chest, face, hell anywhere the blade would go, I stabbed it.

When I blinked, I had a bloody corpse under me with dozens if not hundreds of stab wounds. My actions frightened me to the point of fleeing the scene. I turned in the job, a little hurried to get back to the city, and sped off on my bike. The rest of the day was spent alone in my apartment, cooling my head before forcing myself to go to sleep.

On the day I was due for school, a day after my little breakdown, I arrived back in the government building. I was sad that my fun little break was coming to an end, but I only had a month left until it could start again, so it wouldn't be too bad. I was also confident I could pass all my classes, except for maybe English unless I did all the make up work, with flying colors on the final.

Everyone eyed me due to my absence, but I didn't do anything different, just got the work I missed from the teachers and did around a tenth of it during Greek and planned to do the rest in IED and Greek for the rest of the year.

The only real issue I ran into was readjusting my sleep schedule around the day instead of nights, so I could get stuff done at school and work as well as do a few pit fights before I had to get home. I was able to get my normal three hours of sleep at night and take a little nap during the afternoon before work to overcome the sleep loss so I could do my job correctly as well as get my training in the pits.

The rest of the year passed without incident and I was finally free of school once more. My classes were an average C due to my extended absence, so that was an issue. My records with the hunting office should help, but I'm not too sure if Beacon will accept me if I was a straight C student. I would just need to strive for perfect grades next year.

On a high note, I had gained another level when I completed my thirtieth D job! Since I didn't have much challenge with what I fought for the most part, I didn't really net much experience as I used to, so I started picking the high risk D ranks which got me about three percent experience with each one done and that coupled with the jobs I did for Junior which was more for money than experience with how little I got, got me to level thirty-nine. On the training side, my two months of constant pit training hadn't gotten me too far. About a dozen in STR, fourteen in VIT, and six in DEX. A good haul, but it took a lot of work to get my level up.

I stopped at my house for a good nap before I had to get to work at the docks for a surveillance job to see if Junior's crew was doing as they were paid to do. There was a shortage in the last few shipments and Junior wanted to see if the crew was selling to competitors and if they were, to stop them.

After fours hours in the roof in my sniper gear, plus my scale armor, I saw what I had come for. Some of the dock workers opened up one of the crates to a black van where men loaded up some of the stuff. I punched a few holes into the engine block to disable the car before I silently made my way down.

I would take them down, interrogate them, and hand them to Junior. The man could ransom back the men to the competitor or something. I pulled out my pistol as I approached and raised it as I advanced on the group of men. I was fifteen feet away when they finally noticed me in the dark, but it was over. They dropped the crate to go for a weapon, but I discharged a round into the shipping container's side, making them freeze. "Slowly pull your gun out and toss them into the water," I commanded with little care.

One of the started speaking angrily in a language I really didn't expect to hear. "W_hat are you going to do if I don't, then you little bitch?!_" The man yelled at me in Tibetan of all languages.

"_Well, I will shoot you in the knee for one!_" I shouted back at him, gesturing at his legs with my pistol. The man sneered at me and didn't comply as his coworkers did, so I followed through and shot his left knee out.

He fell screaming to the ground, clutching his bloody knee. The hit wasn't lethal or even that crippling either, mostly it was in the muscle. The man said every curse that I knew in Tibetan and even some that I hadn't heard about that centered around religion. Interesting. "_Why?!_" He screamed as he clutched his leg.

My mouth dropped open a bit as my eyebrow raised up. I turned out my free hand as I looked at the two complying hostages. "I did say that I would do it," I spoke aloud. 'Did they think the guy pointing a gun at them wouldn't shoot?' My head shook as I cleared that thought from my mind. "You, traitor." I gestured at the man selling Junior's product. "Toss his gun into the water."

The man, an average looking guy in overalls, black hair and beard with some grey in it, hopped to work and the gun splashed in the water, forever out of reach. "Now, _who do you work for, friend?_" I asked the surrendered foreigner, seeing as his friend was withering on the ground.

"We works for King Min!" The man answered in broken English. I had no idea who that was so I shifted my body to look at the traitor.

The man flinched back when the face of the guy who just shot someone looked at him. It felt like he really didn't expect to be caught. 'This guy is an idiot.' With a deep breath, I repeated the question to the traitor, "Who do they work for?"

"Pagan Min! Don't shoot me, I'm not one of them!" I stared at the man for a moment before pulling out my scroll. I need to call this in and get Junior's guys down before something stupid happened.

With a few flicks of my hand, my scroll was ringing. "Yo. What did you find, Hawke?" Junior asked as he picked up the phone.

"Salve." I was going to continue, but a short scream from the kneecapped man interrupted me so I put my Kevlar-toed boot into his gut in the way of a hard kick. "_Quiet!_" I told him in his native language. Once the man was coughing quietly, I turned my attention back to the phone call. "Yeah, so your man here was selling to some foreigners, southern vacuoian by the language, they speak fucking Tibetian, say they work for a King Min, full name Pagan Min. I got the two and the worker in front of me if you want to pick them up."

The man gave a hard sigh over the phone before ordering, "Dammit. Alright, I'll get some boys down there to pick up the guys, stay with them until transport comes. Try and figure out who this King Min is" I gave him my confirmation and hung up.

The three stared up at me in fear, but I just leaned against the shipping container that was open. The box they were moving before I got there was on the ground next to my feet, which made me curious. "What does this Min want?"

The traitor stuttered out, "Junior smuggled in some dust weapons for a cover that the Royal army used and King Min needs dust arms for a rebellion, so he was going to pick them up before Junior figured out what they were. They still use gunpowder gun and all over there so the dust weapons would help greatly." I nodded and spun my gun around my finger. 'Nothing wrong with a gunpowder fueled weapon. Easier for ammo and less dangerous to make from scratch in the field.'

The men stayed where they were, but I made sure to back into the confines of the shipping container as I waited just in case they had back up ready. The cover would prove useful. "Sir, I'm with the Golden Path, this was a set up! I swear, I'm not really a traitor!" The overall wearing man begged. "I'm one of the good guys!" When the words Golden Path left his lips, the two Tibetan speaking men got violent, even the one with the bullet in his leg, and it was only me with a gun on them that kept them from trying to kill the man. "We fight Min and these weapons would have been intercepted for our cause! You understand yes?!"

I was about to answer when I heard, "Such filth." The voice was proper, but accented English. I leaned out of the container and saw nine men walking towards us, one in a Pink suit that was looking around in distaste and the rest in red armor with automatic weapons ready on their shoulders. I quickly pulled my head back, but I was seen. "Oh do come out, or else my boys will have to come in and get you," the voice called out. From the look of the group I saw, the pink suit was the one who spoke.

Seeing that I had no real way out, I would have to surrender. My armor quickly came off, leaving me in just my pants and hoodie along with my cap. The armor went into my inventory so they didn't confiscate it, but I couldn't do the same with my pistol sadly. I would have run, but with my bike at Junior's, there was a slight issue with a getaway and they had me pinned.

With a deep breath, I came out with man hands up, gun held by the barrel so they weren't threatened by it. Being killed at a docks was not my idea of a good time to spend my evening. "I surrender man, please don't shoot," I said, trying to keep any of the fear I had at being gunned down out of my voice.

The pink suit laughed, "No worries my boy, why we could even have some use for you!" I did not like the sound of that. As he talked, I got a better look at him and saw he was in a pink suit, plucked eyebrows, and bleached white hair with the sides buzzed. "I mean, look at this work. A bit messy, but my friend Paul couldn't have done a better job." The man gave me a smirk. "How would you like a job working for me?" The suit offered.

"Yeah... I kinda like my job I have now and all though. Being a huntsman is much more rewarding," I hesitantly answered the suit, who I was starting to think might be the King. "Are you King Min that the moron was talking about?"

"That I am, hunter boy. That I am, and I said it as a question, but... you really don't have a choice. We need a tester. Boys." As one, the unit of soldiers pulled out a pistol like weapon and fired at me. I was able to avoid one of the shots, but the rest slammed home at various parts of my body before releasing a painful shock that caused me to black out. "Ah, what a productive day, wouldn't you say shit monkey?" Was the last thing my ears picked up before unconsciousness took me. Shit.

**A/N- This is where the farcry arc came into play that I spoke of all those chapters ago. I'm a huge fan of them and well… I wanted to develop Jaune's more violent side, making him a better soldier, but I didn't really know how, so this happened. Plus this was written back when FC4 came out. Hopefully you enjoy it. I liked writing it.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hey a new chapter. So... I'm rewriting the entire farcry arc. I had up to beacon already made and all, but going over it... I didn't like some plot points, so I'm fixing it all~ Here's chapter 20. oh and seeing as I'm rewriting, the chapters are going to probably get significantly larger as I can focus on adding details I glossed over**

* * *

A sound woke me from my unconscious state. A brief listen told me it was the sound water made as it dripped down onto a solid surface. As my eyes opened, I saw a ceiling with a grey tint to it over my eyes, a cracked concrete ceiling that was most definitely not the docks where I was taken down on.

I moved my body and just as it shifted a bit where only the skin moved, before the muscles could fully extend, I froze and let out a moan of pain. It felt like knives burying deep into my body and that feeling stuck around now that I did the unthinkable and acknowledged it. The pain was focused on my head, mouth, and eyes, but a good bit was being actively set off by three lines across my body, lines that felt like straps through my… nothing.

Bringing my head up with gritted teeth, I saw I was completely nude as well as strapped down to a steel table. Coughing, I let my head fall to the table as I looked around some more, moving only my sore eyes. 'How did my eyes get sore? Did I blink too much?!' I thought ot myself with a frown which also hurt my face muscles.

The room was terribly filthy, to the point where even I'd think it was terrible and my apartment was three parts dust. Filthy enough I clearly saw a small patch of mushrooms growing next to what I saw woke me up. A crack in the ceiling that had water dripping down at a maddeningly steady pace. Onto a floor where it was stained, utterly stained, with bloodshed. There were damage to the walls too which spoke ill-tales. Bloody cracks and holes which looked like they came from firearms, at head height.

What got me most was not the look, but the overwhelming smell that even took some thought away from my pain. It was a smell that the moment I thought about it, I gagged tot he side, throwing up a bit in my mouth. I spat the sick onto the floor as I ignored the heavy smell of piss and decay in the air that seemed to emit from every crevice.

A creak to the side had me look up and I saw a metal door across from me, the only thing not concrete. Even that looked like it was ready to fall from the wall, even if the door looked sturdy. The material it was connected to just wasn't up to par for the weight of the actual object. My experienced eye in the art of putting up a basic door saw that with a good heave, even in the state I felt I was in, I could take it out towards me. Forward would be out of the question as it opened inward, so it had worn down my side.

That could wait however as said door once more swung up and standing in it was two red uniformed soldiers, just like the ones who shot me, with a woman in a lab coat. The woman walked towards me and without a word, pulled my eyes open then flashed a light at them. Squinting and squirming painfully, I tried to retreat from the bright light and rough touch of the scientist.

She just grabbed my cheeks and held my head still. I glared as I looked at her level.

**[Head of Special Operations]  
****Yuma Lau  
****Level 43  
****5200/5300  
****500/500  
****Armed: Pistol on left thigh, multiple knives in coat, large blade in boot**

She looked at me and nodded. "You will be great once we're through with you," she purred, her first words to reach my ears. I hated her voice. "King Min will be so pleased," she hummed before taking out a needle. "Just one more and if you survive this, you will be a marvel." She wordlessly and almost like she didn't give a damn, jabbed my arm with the needle, pushing the plunger down with liquid fire running through my veins.

I screamed against my gritted teeth, could feel all my veins bulging against my body as I fought against the straps, the urge to _move_ filling my being. I fought hard enough that the straps began to strain and the soldiers held me down. I tried to shake them off, but whatever she gave me made it hard to see and sapped my strength slowly. I couldn't see the messages in front of my eyes and without my glasses, I couldn't see my stamina.

I fought still until I no longer could get breath in my body, then I felt myself seizing up against my well, shaking this way and that. "He's having a seizure," the bitch said with a frown obvious in her voice. "Release him." The hand on me disappeared

"Fuck you!" I tried to say, but all I got out was, "Ffffk...eeeee," before my vocal control ceased. I felt myself fading.

"Another failure..." She said with disappointment in her voice as I heard her footsteps walking away. A loud heartbeat raced through my body and I screamed as it just renewed the pain in me. Every heartbeat felt like it was killing me and every scream it brought felt like gargling glass shards. I clenched my eyes shut finally against the agony.

I jumped when I heard the water drip onto the floor. Coughing, I looked around in confusion. 'Where am I?' I thought to myself in a daze. I looked over to where I heard the water and saw it was leaking from a cracked ceiling. I saw the crack was across a good portion of the ceiling, but it must have been weaker there.

A painful look around told me that I was in some filthy room. Not, 'I haven't dusted in a while filthy,' but a, 'No one's cleaned here for decades and people have died in here,' filthy. And the smell. Piss and decay seemed to emit from the walls.

A small cough perked my ears and I slowly moved my head, painfully shifting my neck. 'Ahh, this must be what it's like to get tased by eight people,' I groaned to myself, my eyes landing on a steel door.

An image of it opening to a trio flickered before my eyes. One of them was shorter with… pink hair and a lab coat? Absurd, did I… dream? I tried to rub my sore eyes, 'how did I get sore eyes? Did I blink too much?!' I mentally asked myself, but my arms didn't move.

Confused, I tried to move again, but it felt like I had been ran over by three boarbatusks. Groaning, I looked down to see I didn't have a shred of clothing on and… I was strapped down with some gnarled up looking leather straps. I lifted my arms with a bit of force and they easily came undone. Who'd trap someone with that?

Coughing as I sat up, I had to hunch over as my body _hurt_ horribly. Pulling up my status, I found what was the issue. My health and mana were at full, but I was suffering from "**Severe Muscle Fatigue** – An extremely strenuous ordeal has left your muscles tired and sore. 3 days until pain fades."

'Never getting tased again,' I told myself as I swung my legs off the warm steel table. I must have been hear for a while. I took a breather, not feeling well in the very least. After a moment of rest, I pushed myself up and off the table, my bare feet unsteady on the dusty rock floor. 'How long have I been here?'

Pulling out my scroll, I flipped it on and open to see the date was. 'Hot damn,' I swore as I saw the date. 'I've been down for a fucking month!' I sighed and put my phone away after seeing no service in the area. Not surprising as it looked like I was in some cave in the middle of nowhere by the look of the age.

Next out of my inventory were my pants, a spare t-shirt, and my armor. I pulled them all on, an old black cap I replaced after it was burned in a welding accident, a long line of singed cloth was along the bill, then added my boots. I followed all that up with my fake clear glasses to get my HUD back. I was accurate with my weapons, but every little bit helped and I had no idea the situation I was in.

Walking towards the door, Nox appearing at my waist, I opened it, only for it to not move. Shit. Looking at the door, I remembered I had dreamt myself thinking that if I pulled inward, it would break. I had to pause at that. I must have… just… misremembered that? Or… maybe I woke up a bit before. I would try to remember more when I was safe. Shaking my head, I took a step back and grabbed the handle of the steel door, and pulled at it so I could get to the hallway behind it where a second smaller door would be.

Bracing my boot, I pulled, my body protesting and making me feel ill as could be, but with a groan, the concrete crumbled and the door crashed into the ground at my feet, nearly on one as I was a bit sluggish. Looking down the hallway, I saw a man in a red uniform and armor set turning with an old rifle. The armor looked like old gunpowder armor from the days where dust hadn't been converted or refined into propellants. Stuff that only modern police wore since they could stop a pistol round and were that heavy.

**Royal Army Soldier  
****Agni Magar  
****Level 21**

I darted at him, body slowly becoming more and more responsive with every step, so just before he finished raising his rifle, I slapped it to the side and impaled his body onto my sword. I pulled it out and with a swipe, relieved him of his head. It… made me nervous that… for some reason, I liked killing him. Like he had slighted me in a major way, but… he didn't. He just kidnapped me. An image of the door opening again flickered with his face focusing in on the one to the left of the pink woman, _bitch_, my mind called her.

Shaking my head, I looked down the hall where I heard yelling coming from the other door. Sheathing my blade, I pulled out my assault rifle and shouldered it. Keeping my gun ready, I advanced to the door, a much better maintained door at that. Still, the hinges looked rusty, like they'd scream if someone opened them.

I was correct as they did scream, with the yells of fury from three other men that charged in, all wearing the same uniform as the man dead behind me. Frowning, I squeezed the trigger and the first died, then the second with five rounds in his torso and head, and the third had enough time to shoot the floor in shock before I shot him dead as well for stepping into a kill zone.

My magazine dropped into my hand and I changed it for another as I stepped over the corpses, legs buckling. The charging handle cracked home as I leaned out of the door with the rifle to see nothing around. To my left was a lit hall that seemed to go outside and right was another lit hall that would go deeper into the complex. I knew which was I was heading towards.

As I approached the outside, a biting chill hit me. It felt like late fall weather, but I could clearly see snow. Must be a warm day. My frost endurance must also be paying off too. Said air got more nippy as I got closer to the exit and the layer of snow at my feet grew deeper and deeper until I found myself in quite the strange position. I was on a ledge, looking down at some clouds from a cliffside.

All I could see around me was snow. On the mountains neighboring the one I was apparently in. In front of me where there was a blizzard raging around me, and at the ground below. I believed at least. My focus went to something else when I looked down.

Below were a few small ledges and one big one fifty feet down, at least. Looking back the way I came, I heard heavy footsteps of running men, all no doubt with rifles in hand and murder in their eyes for what I did to their people. Giving a growl that just felt right to sum up the situation, I tossed my hat into my inventory and took a few steps back.

Those steps were recovered and more as I took a shuffled jump off the edge, plummeting down through half a wet, frosty cloud, snow flying up my clothes as gravity forced my form to pick up speed. In seconds it was over as my feet hit the packed snow and I let my side drop to disperse the weight, sinking fully in the snow drift.

Spitting out the cold snow that didn't feel cold, I sat up and shook my head to get the packed snow off. till, that didn't hurt at all, no damage taken from the cushioning snow, so the it's good for at least that.

I found it a bit odd that even with snow covering the majority of my body, packed in every bit, under my shirt, in my pants, I wasn't cold. It wasn't comfortable, but ti wasn't as cold as it should have been. 'I'll need to check on my skills once I'm down, I must have maxed my frost endurance without noticing or something stupid like that.'

Getting up, I looked down a bit and saw my next ledge through the low cloud. It looked about seventy feet, but if this one cushioned me enough, that one should be alright. It looked only slightly smaller and I could take a little pain, plus my body already hurt like hell. What was a little more pain. It also went to show how I lived my life as the moment I thought those few words, I was already dropping down with little preparation. I'd heal from it after all.

This time, the fall hurt as the snow wasn't as deep as I thought. I'd be feeling that bruise for a while. Standing up slowly, I froze as I felt the ground under me shift. "okay," I slowly said as I shuffled over and saw my next ledge was only thirty feet down. As I bent my legs to jump, I pushed off just as the ground under me disappeared, so I hung where I was for a second, countering gravity just so, then following the stone in a free fall.

My rifle left my hand as I desperately grabbed the the ledge I was aiming for, but as my chest hit it, all I could grab was snow. My fingers clawed uselessly at the ground as it kept giving under my gropes until I fell backwards off it.

Flipping around in the air, I righted myself and flew right into the cliffside, but I stayed close enough to start bouncing off it more, no doubt breaking something from the pain, but each it spun me a bit slower, but each hit stole my breath, making it hard to tell which way was my doom.

My hand lashed out towards the wall as I thought how I couldn't die here and that I would claw my way back to a safe place. My fingers dug into the stone with no pain, and they dug deeper as I put muscle into it, dragging grooves down the rock face until I stopped suddenly, pulling my shoulder out of its socket, but my other hand just grabbed a rock as I painfully extracted my bloody hand from the wall. A look at them showed I had claws.

Thick, dense claws right out of my fingers, where my nails should have been and curving down. "What?" I dumbly questioned in shock. I looked at my other hand holding my dangling body from death and saw them to be clawed as well, also digging into the stone of the snowy cliff. "What? Claws?" I repeated allowed and in my mind, I imagined them going away and they shrunk back into my fingers, feeling really weird, weird enough that I accidentally let my grip weaken.

As I realized the mistake, I tried to grab with my bloody hand, but gravity already tugged me down towards the ground. Before I could get the breath to scream in terror, my back slammed into the cold substance that covered the ground below, all thirty feet from where I had stopped. Other than my damaged hand and shoulder, I was… fine. The snow was incredibly deep, so while I sunk three feet into it, I couldn't actually feel the bottom of the drift. All that was erally the problem was I got scared out of my wits before my Gamer's Mind artificially calmed me down and had me focus that I was alive, not safe, but I was still breathing.

With a slow exhale of steam, I rolled out of the snow, holding my throbbing arm as my eyes filtered through my inventory. I had only one firearm left, Nox not being ideal as I was, so I put my cased rifle down and flipped it open, eyes scanning the blizzard to see shuffling movement around with the sounds of picks striking stone reaching my ears.

I had my rifle prepared in moments and pressed to my left shoulder, my right arm too damaged at the moment to be trusted. The case disappeared and I rose from the ground, eyes scanning. I figured I'd go opposite of the mountain and see how that went. I had rations for weeks and my frost endurance would keep me alive.

My suppressed barrel lead me as I stalked through the snow, barely leaving any tracks behind. I flinched when I heard the report of a gunpowder firearm, but when nothing hit around me and I heard it firing again, from a good distance away, I kept moving towards the source.

As I walked, I realized what they must have been shooting at, periodically as the gunfire had already faded. My eyes locked on those I walked past, whom were lost in their work with dead expressions on their malnourished faces. This was a prison. A horrible one that would be covered and radiating despair. Grimm must flock to this place. I could do nothing nor would it be of any use if I tried to help them as was. I was just an injured hunter with no special talent past languages and crafting. They'd be dead in this weather long before I got them to safety.

So, I kept moving, shoving the thought of the peoples' plight from my mind, not giving it anymore attention as I had my life to keep. Life was all equal and that stuff, but I allowed myself to be selfish in wanting to keep mine intact first.

Ahead, through the thick storm, I saw a small shack and my ears somehow picked up some voices close to it. Getting low, I snuck through and around snow drifts until my eyes landed on the sources. Two men, all in the same red armor and with gunpowder weapons by a glance. They looked healthy and a check showed they were level twenties. If this was their area to work, they must have to train hard to keep the grimm off them.

That didn't matter as they were human. Just human with normal fragile flesh and bone. Materials my rifle could easily pierce, but with my offhand in control, I wasn't convident in popping both without a call going up. So the strap slung around to my back as my blade came from its sheath.

My footsteps crunched softly to my ears, but even that noise was going down with how fast my body was adapting the steps. I knew how to walk quietly, but it was just having to distribute my weight just right in the snow that I'd need to learn for now.

Even so, the talking men were not paying attention, probably use to the miserable prisoners not being able to put up a fight. Nox flashed out and the one listening to his buddy lost his head. The buddy's eyes widened as his mouth hung up, the last word escaping in a choked gasp as his eyes locked onto my blade as it struck down, spearing his chest, right through the heart.

Still, a wound like that was fatal, but it gave a second for the body to begin to shut down, maybe he'd get a shot off, but I didn't wish for that either. My left hand flipped around to press my palm on the hilt facing down, pushing up to rip the blade through the soldier chest cavity.

The groove was created without difficulty. Carving up a bit to destroy every valve I missed with the stab, slicing through the ribs with my enhanced strength, breaking through out his left side and relieved him of his shooting arm, the gun dropping with the limb to the ground. His dying body hitting the snow just after it. The gladius was twirled around my hand, splattering the white substance with blood as I fixed my grip. A backwards grip could parry, but I had no experience doing so, nor the correct blade, too weighty.

I cleaned the blade on my jeans and sheathed her. Reaching down, I picked up the rifle, my new one seeing as I lost mine in the fall. I picked up the weapon. It had a wooden stock and grip, the barrel made of steel and had a flimsy sight welded to that. It… wasn't the alloy that dust guns had, but it wasn't something I had come across before in my studies. The magazine was familiar-ish as it was most clearly of Vacou design, much how they fixed up their own weapon feeding systems.

**VAM-91 – Mass produced Vacouian firearm before dust was refined enough for military use. A relic from a well-ignored era and favorite weapon of cheap kingdomless military. Uses 5.45x39mm rounds.  
****1253/5000  
****55 ballistics  
****5 rounds/second**

It was a… good weapon to be honest, if maintained by a monkey with a wrench. It had more power than my old rifle, but… I only vaguely knew of the ammunition type. It was an old round that was… discarded in favor of the Atlas' model of bullet for future firearms. Due to the lack of variation and exchange over weapons.

Frowning, I stored my marksman rifle and pull the sling off the VAM over my shoulder, then looted the body for the real loot they had, not the junk that my power generated. It never took what was really useful from people. I recovered a total of ten full magazines from the dead corpses for the rifle and a small pistol of the same make of my old one. Damn, this thing had to have been everywhere if people that used these out-dated weapons had them. 'Or was still useful' a part of my mind observed as I put it in my belt, seeing as my old holster was gone with everything else I had on me when I was captured. That was fixed by taking the soldier's.

I pulled the magazine from the rifle and it felt full, so I placed it back in, charging a round into the chamber using a strange charging system. It had a slide on the top that I just pulled back. Might be good for both hands, but really, it looked like it'd just spit bullets everywhere instead.

Though, I could ponder what tactic weirdo made this weapon when I wasn't standing in a prison covered by a blizzard during a breakout. The mountain slope was steep, but there were well worn paths that I stuck to the side of, making sure to keep ready with my blade to kill another that got in my way.

A few minutes of nothing, I heard a second salvo of gunfire and adjusted my course accordingly. My journey downward passed a few prisoners that looked dead but were still moving and then I came to a cave. Walking in, I saw there were even more miners there, but ti was a dead end. Even with my bloody form and armed self, they didn't even flinch before going back to work. Frowning at their state, I continued on and came to a small little range with throwing knives, below me I could hear Tibetian voices.

As I crept closer, I could make out what they were saying over the howling wind, though I did notice the distance should have been an issue that really wasn't. The man talking was practically growling as he spoke to his partner. "_You smell their fear, boy, eh?_" The man asked. The person must have nodded and this prompted the man to continue. "_Yeah, that's why I like it here too. They know their place around us, don't they, boy? Yeah they do._"

The smug tone made me frown deeper as I made it to the edge and looked down. I saw the two below in front of a broken shack. Judging the distance from the cliff, I nodded to myself. I could make it. But first. I grabbed one of the knives from the target and got back to the edge.

I drew back and with a flick that just felt right to me, the blade was sailing true just before I jumped.

I flung myself forward with my sword raised. I came down hard on the "boy's" back the moment after the blade had pierced the side of his head, making him turn his body towards me for a bigger target, crushing him to the ground as my blade vertically cut the man in two, from his neck all the way to his right hip. He slid apart with a gargle and I finished off the man I crushed and most likely broke. Even if the knife that I threw didn't already kill the dog.

'Guess throwing covers knives too,' I observed as I stepped off the corpse. 'Probably should have predicted that. Thought I'd just miss and distract them,' I snorted as started back down the path. The way was clear as I got to a small drop I hopped down and rolled with the landing behind a mine cart trapped in the snow, keeping a low profile.

Peeking around the side, I saw a man in a snow-covered jacket with his back to me, watching something. He raised his rifle, causing my heart to skip a beat, but just aimed it towards where he was looking. As I slinked out of cover, he opened up to the side and I saw a small hole in the cliff where three beowolves were taking hits from a few of the bullets peppering them. These men were… not that great of a shot. It could have been the weather or the darkness, but it wasn't that dark, the moon filtered through fine enough. Though it was kind of weirdly tinted, like a greyish film.

On front of the man was an outpost with some men that too had seen the beowolves and were opening fire on them. Also, hitting nothing but the rocks. They could hit the broad side of a cliff, but… little else.

Though, an idea came to mind as I readied to impale the man's head. If they die, these prisoners died too. Cursing silently, I withdrew and continued low in the snow drift. I really wanted to kill them and all I could think of why was a great pain racing through my blood and the faces of two men holding me down, wearing the uniforms. 'What did they do?' I asked myself as I pushed on. It was clear it was a memory that was coming back, but still… I really fucking hated these guys.

Now with an active distraction of the grimm having gotten into the hole, I used my acrobatics to jump along the slippery rocks passed the small outpost as they were distracted, keeping my eye on the path so I didn't get lost in this blizzard, because that would just be a crying shame.

As I ran further down the path, minutes ticked by as I had to take it slow so that I didn't bust my ass and give myself away to the armed soldiers all around me. A tower slowly emerged from the fog that was on the left side of the path, so I was heading directly for it.

Landing silently on the edge of a drop overlooking the road, which thankfully held under my weight. I saw a patrol walking by, eyes focused around on what could assume was known grimm spots and when he had passed, I dropped down and darted the way he had come to put some space between the grimm coming in and the fight to keep them back.

I was foolish to be on the path and I realized that in two seconds, alas I realized that too slow as the following second as I was angling off the road, I ran fulltilt into a man coming from behind a small broken husk of a building. I tumbled over his body and as my face bounced off the icy ground, something I also should not have been running on, which might have contributed to me tripping more than the man himself, I was already twisting around to be on all fours as the man coughed.

"_What the fuck, brother?! You stupid gr-_" He coughed out as he slowly got up. That was all he managed to say and before he looked up, his head was rolling away before I bodily threw him off the path and down the slope, following after the body.

I hopped over the body and darted towards some sort of cover, skirting the ground with my body as I tried to stay as low as I could, more running like an animal than man, yet… I found it wasn't that hard. Actually, I got better traction to be honest. My claws, whatever they were from, helped a good deal in that regard as they could dig into ice as easily as it did stone, so with relative ease.

I dove behind a shack and rolled to my feet with my blade in hand, finding nothing had been alerted. Looking around the shack slowly, I noticed that I was at what must have been the entrance and first line of defense. Frowning, I saw eight mounted weapons facing outward, and four inward, all twelve looked like they were on a swivel to change directions on the fly. I'd be dead before I got too far into the blizzard.

I inhaled deeply and started looking at the men. They were all around level twenties, no one that strong. There was one level thirty in heavy armor and what looked like a Light Machine Gun, but that was it. So I 'could' fight my way through them, but 'should' I. Yes, they were part of this terrible prison, but also they were keeping the prisoners alive.

Growling under my breath, my eyes turned to scanning the cliff for some way out that didn't kill one of the guards, and my hopes were answered as a few Beowolves made themselves known on a hole above the outpost that was hidden from my angle. They scrambled down, nine of them in total, a pack, and attacked.

The fighting got intense and… deadly on the grimm side. The grimms were lessers, not a small thing to kill for a normal man, even for someone like these folks. But… I knew how I was getting out. My feet kicked off and I was pouncing across the ground, avoiding gunfire in my direction, but they had a priority in the grimm.

My claws, even my mangled one, met the wall and I kicked off the ground, lunging up the wall like a beast in a human body. I dug in for a moment to brace my feet before launching myself up to the next face, climbing the sheer cliff with… ease really. I didn't find myself dangling or not, sure I had to be careful how much outward force I applied, but I managed to get up to the hole fine and climb in, gunfire hitting the hole as I retreated into the lit… cave. How was it still lit, if more grey than outside.

A sneer came to my lips at the changes as I followed the cave with my back low and rifle leading for grimms. 'What did they do to me?!' I mentally snarled as I found the exit into the elements, only for my danger sense to go off on a fast moving target coming at me, multiple in fact.

I fired into the snow at the small little shapes of black I saw, and got three kills for sure before the four others were on me. My rifle broke across one's face, literally breaking. There was more damage to it than I thought. It knocked the beowolve lesser senseless and gave me time to draw my blade.

I learned something in the next minute of cat and mouse with the monsters. Fighting blind sucked. I got a good few hits, a brutal cut to my leg that was oozing blood and would scar no doubt, but I won against them all the same, earning me a level up.

Groaning with y sore and damaged body, I set off into the storm, and kept my danger senses open. As I did so, I made a quick check on my status effects and… nope. Still just fatigue. Frowning, I opened it further and saw something distressing in a 'Why?!' sense.

**Name: Jaune Arc  
****Level: 40  
****Next level: 0%  
****Title: Hawke  
****HP: 4450  
****MP : 2200 + 90%  
****STR: 185 + 20%  
****VIT: 214 + 30%  
****DEX: 176  
****INT: 100  
****WIS: 75  
****LUK: 32  
****Points: 33**

Where did my new bonuses come from. It would be great and all, but seeing something so fundamentally changed in my core, what I am given a number, it was not something I would leave alone. So I opened the page that could tell me what exactly was the issue.

**Gamer:  
****Gamer's Body (Passive)** – Max  
**Gamer's Mind (Passive)** – Max

**Mutation:**

**Artificial Wolverine Faunus (Passive): **Level Max – Way to go, you got turned into a Faunus. +20% STR and 30% VIT. Immune to cold climates, thicker hair, Wolverine ears on head, tail at base of back, Stronger teeth with extended canines, sheath-able claws, Keen sense of smell, Low-Light Vision.

**Perception**

**Analyze (Active):** level 64 - Observing objects, situations, and persons allows the userto quickly gather information. The higher the skill, the greater the data obtained!  
**Insight (Active)**: level 46 – Find the true motives and mood of people. More details on higher level people as levels are gained  
**Sense Danger (Passive/ Active):** level MAX - Allows user to sense when something bad might happen! Gives location of the danger. Active: 1 mp every 30 seconds, increases range by two hundred meters, more direct location of danger

**Affiliations:**

**Strength Affiliation** **(Passive)**: Level MAX - +50% melee damage, +50% lifting strength  
**Vitality Affiliation** **(Passive)**: Level MAX - +100% stamina, +100% stamina regeneration  
**Dexterity Affiliation (Passive):** Level MAX - +50% coordination, +50% base speed  
**Intelligence Affiliation** **(Passive)**: Level 9 - +90% Mana points, +90% Mana Regen  
**Wisdom Affiliation** **(Passive)**: Level 3 - -15% of mana usage

**Resistance:**

**Physical Endurance** **(Passive):** level 28- Ability to endure and negate physical damage. -56% physical damage  
**Fire Endurance (Passive):** Level 4 – ability to endure the heat of fire. -8% fire damage  
**Frost ****Endurance (Passive):** Level 20 – ability to endure the cold of ice. -40% frost damage

**Medicine:**

**Diagnosis (Passive):** level 4 - The ability to identify an injury or disease before attempting a cure. 40% chance of diagnosing an injury, 20% chance of diagnosing disease with a glance at symptoms  
**First-Aid (Passive):** Level 6 – Fix up small wounds or fractured bones. +60% speed at healing basic injuries, +60% more health gain from healing

**Firearms: **

**Pistol Mastery (Passive):** level 12 - Use of a pistol. +60% damage and accuracy  
**Rifle Mastery (Passive): **level 8 - Use of Rifle. +40% damage and accuracy  
**Sniper Mastery (Passive):** level 2 - Use of scoped weapons. +140% damage and accuracy. +84% steadiness  
**Shotgun Mastery (Passive): **Level 1 – Use of shotgun. +5% damage and accuracy  
**Launcher mastery (Passive):** level 3 – Use of launchers, RPG to 40mm. +15% damage and accuracy.

**Explosives:**

**Throw (Passive):** Level 10 – Ability to throw an object which can be lifted. +20% accuracy with thrown object  
**Ballistic (Passive):** Level 32 – Calculate the trajectory of ballistics ranging from missiles to bullets. +160% speed of calculations  
**Demolition (Passive): **level 1 - Ability to place explosives in key areas for maximum effect. +5% damage of explosive.

**Basic Combat:**

**Dodge (Passive)**: level 50 – ability to get out of the way  
**Block (Passive)**: level 31 – The ability to block a hit. -62% force from blocked strikes to shield.  
**Parry (Passive)**: level 9 – The ability to redirect a strike  
**Overdo (Active):** level 6 - The ability to go past your normal limits in desperate situations, + 60% to speed and damage, 1% of MP every second

**Blade Combat:**

**Sword Mastery (Passive): **level 76 - The ability to effectively use swords in combat. +380% damage with swords, +380% speed with swords  
** Valian Sword Style (Passive): **Level 49 – Ability to use the Valian sword fighting style effectively. +98% damage to sword strikes, +98% damage with shield bash.  
** Spartan Sword Style (Passive):** Level 53 – Ability to use Spartan sword fighting style effectively. +106% speed to strikes, +106% accuracy of strikes, +106% dodging speed

**Unarmed combat**

**Hand to Hand (Passive): **level 67 - Fighting without weapons. +335% damage with body, +335% speed with body in combat. Augments all aspects of combat.  
** Boxing (Passive):** Level 50 – Ability to fight as a Boxer. +100% damage punches deal, +100% speed of punches, +100% better footwork  
** Muay Thai (Passive): **Level 44 – Combat Sport that uses stand-up striking with variou clinching techniques. +88% more striking power, +88% better grappling, +88% speed of strikes

**Preparation:**

**Sharpening (Passive):** level 7 – Sharpening a blade to a fine edge. +70% damage for the first ten attacks, blade keeps edge for 70% longer  
**Reloading (Passive):** level 14 – ability to make bullets, +42% more damage from bullets made  
**Repair (Passive):** Level 2 – Fix armor and weapons to top shape. +2% temporary durability points

**Movement:**

**Stealth (Passive/ Active)**: Level MAX – Ability to sneak around without being seen or heard. +85% quieter everything, no scent. Active: noise and scent is eliminated, 10 MP every 10 seconds  
**Free-Running(Passive/ Active)**: level 70 (100) (+2 a level after first level. +1 fall/ per two levels. -Mp every 10. subtract a level for the base. ) – Ability to move with greater speed and agility over and on obstacles. +140% base running speed, +35% fall damage reduction. 4 MP every 10 seconds, +190% movement speed while active

**Nature:**

**Scavenge (Passive): **level MAX - The ability to find food and supplies in the wild or trash.  
**Skinning (Passive):** Level 2 – Ability to skin creatures. +10% better quality hides  
**Tracking (Passive/Active):** Level 6 – Find where your target went by using clues they left behind. Active – See the path they took by having the clues highlighted. 82 MP every ten seconds, clues glow a faint gold.

**Art:**

**Acting (Passive):** Level 51 – Put on a convincing role that is not your own. +102% quality of acting  
**Singing (Passive):** Level 47 – Shift your voice to make music. +94% quality of sound  
**Dancing (Passive):** Level 25 – Move body in a pleasing display. +50% coordination  
**Drawing (Passive): **Level 43 – Bring to life works of art on chosen media. +43% quality to drawing

**Drugs Tolerance:**

**Alcohol (Passive):** Level 38 - Ability to hold drink. -38% penalties and negative effects  
**Tobacco (Passive): **Level 5 – Ability to tolerate tobacco. -5% negative effects.

**Housework:**

**Dish Washing (Passive):** level 4 – Fight the grime with power! 20% speed at dishes  
**Laundry (Passive): **Level 13 – Fight the stains with the might of your hands! +65% speed washing clothes  
**Cooking (Passive): **level 3 – Cook the food with great strength! 9% better quality food

**Tactics:**

**Team Tactics (Passive):** Level 21 – Ability to plan and fight a battle with a team. +42% better plans made within a team  
**War Tactics (Passive):** Level 16 – Ability to plan and shape a battle as a leader. +32% better plans made for large scale battles  
**Guerrilla Warfare Tactics (Passive)**: Level 29 – Some battles aren't won by head on fighting. +68% better planning for taking on fighting forces larger than own

**Driving:**

**Class C Driving (Passive): **Level 16 – Can drive any noncommercial vehicle weighing 26,000 pounds or less except motorcycles. +32% control over vehicle.  
**Class M Driving (Passive): **Level MAX – Can drive any two-wheeled vehicle. Complete control over vehicle  
**Piloting (Passive): **Level 2 – Ability to pilot an aircraft. +2% control over vehicle

**Weapon Crafting:**

**Mecha-Shift Weapon Creation (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to craft a weapon that can mecha-shift. +2% faster at planning weapon design, +2% faster build speed  
**Mecha-Shift Weapon Maintenance (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to maintain mecha-shift weaponry. +2% faster diagnose the issue with weapon, +2% faster at fixing issue  
**Forging (Passive):** Level 9 (100) – Ability to shape alloys into usable pieces. +18% quality of creation, +18% speed of crafting

**Engineering:**

**Machinist (Passive): **Level 37 - Ability to use machines to mold objects into workable shapes. +74% speed and quality of work.  
**Automotive Mechanic (Passive)**: Level 24 - Ability to work on vehicles. +120% speed and quality of work on vehicles.  
**Aircraft Mechanic (Passive):** level 7 - Ability to work on and maintain aerial vehicles. +35% speed and quality of work on aerial vehicles.  
**Industrial Mechanic (Passive): **Level 10 – Ability to work on equipment and heavy machinery. +20% speed and quality of work.  
**Plumbing (Passive):** Level 10 - Ability to fix up the plumbing utilities. +50% speed of building  
**Electronics (Passive):** Level 34 - The ability to work with electronic or electrical equipment. +68% speed at working with electronics  
**Construction (Passive): **Level 61 **\- **Ability to build structures. +61% build speed  
**Welding (Passive): **Level 23 – Ability to weld using MiG, Arc, torch, or any other. +23% to quality of weld

**Languages:**

**Linguistics (Passive):** Level 8 - Allows the user to learn languages faster. +80% faster learning speed with languages [30 more]  
**Greek (Passive):** Level 96 – Ability to speak, understand and read Greek. +96% fluidity of speech in Greek  
**Thai (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to speak, understand and read Thai. +1% fluidity of speech in Thai  
**French (Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to speak, understand and read French. +1% fluidity of speech in French  
**Japanese****(Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to speak, understand and read Japanese. +1% fluidity of speech in Japanese  
**Spanish****(Passive): **Level – Ability to speak, understand and read Spanish. +1% fluidity of speech in Spanish  
**Arabic****(Passive): **Level 1 – Ability to speak, understand and read Arabic. +1% fluidity of speech in Arabic  
**Italian****(Passive): **Level 88 – Ability to speak, understand and read Italian. +88% fluidity of speech in Italian  
**Tibetan****(Passive): **Level 75 – Ability to speak, understand and read Tibetan. +75% fluidity of speech in Tibetan

**Espionage:**

**Trickery (Passive): **Level 8 – Lie or fast talk your way out of undesirable situations. +10% quality of lie

**Romance**:

**Kissing (Passive):** Level 8 – Ability to give a kiss that knocks your lover off their feet. +40% pleasure given to receiver

**Sex:**

**Sexual Endurance (Passive):** Level 16 – Ability to hold back an orgasm. +80% longer until climax  
**Fingering (Passive):** Level 8 – Ability to pleasure a woman with just your hands. +16% pleasure given to receiver.  
**Vaginal Sex (Passive):** Level 14 – Ability to pleasure a woman. +70% Pleasure given to both parties  
**Oral Sex (Passive):** Level 6 – Ability to pleasure with the mouth. +12% Pleasure to receiver.

'They turned me into a faunus…' I dumbly thought as I looked at the mutation. I turned my head and pulled my pants down a bit, finding that I had a fluffy blond tail at the base of my spine. I gave it an experimental wag, and it felt like I was moving something like my foot. I could bend it and all, but it wasn't prehensile.

My next reaction was what I would have done in my youth, back before all of this. I gave an old high-pitched squeal as I belted my pants back up to avoid looking at the problem. It was better than the alternative which wouldn't have happened due to my experiences even if my gamer's mind was gone. Fainting in a blizzard surrounded by grimm that _just fucking heard me_, would be bad.

"What the fuck?!" I snarled out as I pulled out my blade and met a Qiqirn. A small fast grimm dog that traveled in packs like beowolves, but were more speed-based than the wolves. I cut it in half and the rest of the pack met me.

I fought through them as always and slowly distanced myself from the town. The little dogs were tough, they were hard to hit with a sword or gun, so I had to let them get close where I could spear them before finishing the little black monsters off.

The fight slowly got worse as all the grimms that were hiding in the storm was attracted by the easy prey, so I ended up breaking off after I started to feel the fight, sprinting away. The grimm followed for a bit, but it would seem my VIT boost came into play already as I kept up my running through the deep snow well through the night, the moon guiding me and such. I was blindsided by an ursa sloth, but they were simple minors and I cut them apart before they could get much against me. Just another bruise to add to my battered body.

Got a thirtieth of a new level due to the half an hour of fighting for my life, so… that was an upside. Now the real issue. Not that I was kidnapped, or lost in a tundra with grimm everywhere, but how I was turned into a faunus. I reached up and found the round ears on top of my head. I pressed on them and it sounded like when I did the same to my human ears. Fuck. They were already part of my nervous system no doubt.

Before I could panic anew without the threat of death hanging over me like a scythe to the throat, my mind calmed down and thought about this logically. 'Past the social issues that faunus face in daily life, this will further me. The vitality will match that boost that the taught hunters had passively. On the immediate front, I have the endurance to get through this blizzard alive, both in the moving sense and resistance sense. There is no immediate downside to the change, but that is something I will be needing to check in on. I needed to hunt down Min and get him to tell me what he did to me. He would know if there was a chance of something like a cancer to grow from it.'

Taking a deep breath, I pushed the topic away as I placed my hat back on my head, my ears flattening a bit and there was a slight muffle like one would have if they put a hat over their ears, which was exactly what I was doing really. It wasn't bad, and I could hear fine from my normal ears. First though, was to get out of this blizzard and find somewhere with a stronghold to plan in, where grimm were not everywhere.

As I walked, I figured from the language I was in southern Vacou, in one of the Kingdomless lands. Most likely Kyrat or Tibet. From the strength of the grimms I encountered, that lead credit. The nature barriers kept the bigger ones out and the weaker ones within didn't have the backup needed to completely wipe out the civilization.

I hoped I was in Kyrat as Tibet was an isolated nation and it would be difficult getting transport out. Kyrat didn't have much in the way of exports, but there was a steady trade network that I could use.

My danger senses picked up an incoming pack and I met them. Some more qiqirn, but they died like any other grimm. In a few days, they would be dust in the wind, so I didn't bother covering my tracks. If anyone really wanted to find me, then let them. I could use the truck they'd bring.

My blade tasted blood fourteen times over the next three days of walking through the blizzard, which I knew I had been turned around in a few times. I had no idea where I was anymore and just kept walking and just kept killing.

It was on the fourth day within the never ending blizzard that I felt a ping of a solo entity. It wasn't really a threat, but it was a danger. I found it was a human from my hearing and when I started sneaking, I quietly circled around and spied on the person. A southern Vacou native by the skin color wearing a ragged uniform.

**[Co-Leader of Golden Path]  
****Sabal Rhu  
****Level 38  
****4000/4000  
****500/500  
****Armed: Pistol in holster around back, Machete in sheath.**

He wasn't that strong in the grand scheme of things. His stats weren't that great either, but he fit in above the soldiers of the Royal army. I followed him for an hour before sneaking back in front of him, curious of what he wanted. To help him along, I began whistling a few songs from the Nightmare before Christmas.

His footsteps increased and I had my pistol in front of me, held at my waist as he approached. His footsteps were easy to hear over the blizzard. An assassin, the man was not. But I acted like I couldn't hear him until he was within ten feet.

I spun on my heels at a step and jammed my pistol out, the barrel pressing into the man's chest. I clicked the hammer back as my eyes met his. "_Care to inform me why you've been stalking me?_" He asked the frightened man in the southern Vacouian local language. I made sure to push the gun forward a bit more to show it wasn't a choice to not answer.

I reached out while he hesitated and pulled the machete out of his sheath and held it in an underhand grip, facing the point to his torso for two weapons aimed at his vitals. He allowed me to do this as he slowly raised his hands.

"_We,_" he started to say. "_Were informed by a contact we have, that a man had escaped Durgesh and I had wanted to check up on the man that had done something thought impossible._" He seemed to gain more confidence with each word as he lowered his hands, but I made a warning sound as I poked him with his machete, not enough to break skin through his clothes, but enough to get his hands back up.

"_Assuming Durgesh is that mountain hellhole,_" I started and he nodded his head. "_Then yeah, I woke up and escaped a few minutes later. Not too hard if you can get down the actual mountain face._"

The man grinned when he heard this. "_We could use a man of your skill and talent_." He told me as he slowly lowered his arms, eyeing the two weapons ready to kill him. I eyed the man visible and withdrew the pistol to point at the ground and spun the machete to a normal grip. "_My name is Sabal, brother. I lead the Golden Path, a rebellion against the fascist bastard, Pagan Min. The man who built the prison you had to escape from._"

Sniffing as I looked at him, my eyes squinted a bit. "_Can you get me to Min. I need to have some literal words with him. If you help me get to him, I help you in your little war._" He spun the machete and offered the hilt to him. He nodded and took it, sheathing the blade.

"_If you help get us Min, you can talk for as long as you want before we kill him,_" He told me with a smirk. "_Can I have the name of our new comrade?_" The man requested from me.

I sniffed and blinked at him, not looking confused as my mind raced through names until I said the first thing that stuck that I could still respond to. "_Jack… Jack Skellington._" Holding my hand out, I shook the man's hand.

"_Now come brother, I have some men waiting with a truck._" My head bobbed in a nod and we began out way. He pulled out a device from his back pocket and flicked a switch on it, causing it to beep. As we advanced through the snow, he asked. "_So why were in locked up in Durgesh? Insult Pagan's bleached head?_" He jested as he stomped through the snow, well stomped in comparison to my own steps, but that wasn't fair on his part.

Snorting, I told him, "_I worked in Vytal and stopped one of his arms deals, he was stealing from my boss. I had the misfortune of meeting him as he was there to check on his dealings and said he needed a tester for whatever he was planning. It did something and I woke up a few days ago after being out for a couple weeks_."

The man eyed my form. "_What did it do?_" He questioned, not finding any changes from a normal human.

With a shrug, I answered with, "_This and that._" I didn't want the man to know my status as an artificial Faunus. The people get enough grief from folks and I did not look forward to that. If he found out I was made into what I was, it might take away my chance at some answers. I would need to fix a few things already when I get back, like having Mom help keep a story that through puberty, I became a full faunus and hid it.

If anyone found out I was artificially created, I could just see racists capturing me and trying to reverse engineer a 'cure' for normal faunus and that would just spark the second faunus war once the government tried to genetically oppress people.

As my thought whirled around my head, I did make note that the device in Sabal's hand was steadily increasing the speed of the beeps until it was a near whine when we saw a truck ahead. Seeing that, he shut the device off to the thanks of my ears. The snow was a little thinner than it was the way I was going, so I figured we were nearing the edge of the terrible weather.

Sabal and I picked up the pace and he hopped into the side seat while the man in the driver, turned the engine over. While he did that, I jumped up and landed on the edge of the bed and dropped into the truck, holding onto the lip of the roof, slapping the top to tell them I was set.

The ride wasn't long, but the man also wasn't that great of a driver, so I had to brace myself a good deal as he slipped and slidded all over the place. For a man that got up what seemed like a small mountain, he sure wasn't doing that great of a job going down.

A half hour passed and we rolled to a stop in front of an old tower with more people in blue, what I took to be the Golden Path's uniforms. They seemed to be just loitering around and keeping watch for grimm, but the moment they saw the truck, they were coming to life and advancing, so whent hed river parked, they were looking at me and Sabal from nearly beside the truck.

The moment the truck parked, I hopped over the side to the thin snow below my boots. The members of the Golden path looked a good bit weary of my arrive. When Sabal got out of the truck though, it was like a switch. One moment they were ready to reach for their weapons and the next, they were greeting me with nods. I guess they figure that I must be alright if I was with Sabal and not tied up.

As I followed the leader with my eyes, I examine the group. Most were scrawny men and women near lower twenties upper teens, weaklings. No wonder they had problems, they didn't stand a chance in close quarters with the men and jungles made certain that happened often. They had some more VAMs and another strange gunpowder weapon. Probably stolen from the royal army.

Sabal walked through the crowd and jumped up to the tower's entrance. "_I found the man that escaped Durgesh!_" Everyone looked at me as I leaned against the truck before returning their eyes onto Sabal. "_This is Jack Skellington and he has agreed to help us take down Pagan Min!_" The crowd gave a cheer, but as they did so, a crack echoed the field as one of the cheering men lost their heads. The report of a firearm closely followed as everyone was in a daze, but I was already on my knees behind the truck bed.

A scream went up as the rebels dove behind some cover around their position as more bullets rained down on us from the mountain side. I was able to keep my cool as I peeked out and saw the Royal army baring down on us at fast speeds.

Raising my rifle, I shot a burst into the dozens that were running, taking one down for the count, a gut shot. Once I had begun returning fire, the rest did the same and then the howls lit up. "Grimm!" I roared out as I shifted my aim from the royal army and towards where I felt the grimms were coming from. Aries were leaping out and charging. They were based off mountain goats I believed, but they charged like boarbatusks with a much more greater agility, making them as if not more dangerous than the boar-based grimm.

My gunfire took down one, then two of them, before they hit both our numbers. My blade was swinging the moment they got close, beheading one as the Golden Path focused down on the soldiers as they didn't stop shooting at us.

My blade met the ramming head of the grimm and we were stuck at a stalemate for all of a second before I kicked it in the leg, breaking it back and impaling its spine before moving on to the next grimm, that was before I had to duck several shots from the Royal Army.

I growled as I raised my VAM and squeezed the trigger while pointing it at the soldiers. The gun recoiled against me, but in the few seconds I held the trigger, I killed three men and one of the grimm on their side. The weapon clicked empty, so I flipped it around in my free hand, then went on to shattering it across an Aries' head to daze it.

I was withdrawing my blade from its dying form when I felt a tremor in the ground, but I saw a grenade going off nearby, so I thought nothing of it. The Royal Army were still charging us, even with their numbers destroyed by the concentrated fire of the Golden Path as it would seem I was the grimm fighter among them. I hacked one of the Aries' bellies open when I felt the tremor persist. Sabal then shouted something that I had no idea what it meant. Thunder or something like that. I finished off another grimm when he called again. "_Get inside Skellington! The mountain's coming down!_" I froze at that and looked up and indeed, the mountain was coming down.

A cloud of snow and rocks were plowing through the forests above at high speeds. 'Oh… so that word meant avalanche…' I blinked dumbly for a second, staring at the oncoming death before my brain kicked into gear. "Shit!" I screamed in panic as I turned tails and ran for the building.

The snow was pelted my back as I reached the building, diving to the side right as the cloud smashed through into the building. The white packed powder blew through the doorway and quickly filled the room, entrapping me against the wall with a few other members of the Golden Path. The only thing I could make out was a distinct falling sensation for a moment, right up to when we hit something and a rock busted me in the back of the head.

A light filtered in from above me and then, as it blurred my vision, I felt a cold hand slam against my cheek and nose. The hand recoiled back then wiped at my face, clearing out some of the snow as I closed my eyes, keeping the person from poking out my eyes. "_Found one! I think it's the new guy!_" A feminine voice called out, muffled by the snow packed in my ears.

Groaning, I sat up, shifting the hundred pounds of snow off my upper body as I did so. Looking around, I saw the top layer of snow was about neck level. The first thing I saw in the bright sun was a pair of snowy boots, following them up, I squinted up at the owner, a young woman in the standard Golden Path uniform.

She reached down with a hand and I took it. She heaved me up and I usd the leverage to et my legs free until I was standing. "_Thank you,_" I said as I released her hand. I bent down a little before hopping out of the hole, landing on the edge and taking a few steps clear.

All around me were the remaining numbers of the Golden Path members digging around, looking for possibly alive comrades. Sabal patted me on the back as he passed. "_You're a tough man to kill, brother,_" he told me with a smirk.

I chuckled back as I brushed the packed snow off my body, digging out my pockets. "_Many people have told me that. Proud to prove them right._" Finished digging my pockets out, I looked around and sniffed to get fresh air in my lungs. The mountain air smelt great, but then there was the sweat and filth from everyone I detected. Blinking, I smelled again and remembered something. I was part Wolverine, as close to a pure-blood as they could make me if I had both tail and ears, and Wolverines lived and hunted in snow. Those fuckers hunted by digging up sleeping prey by smelling them out.

My nose flared as I took a deep breath, focusing on the smell of humans around me. I memorized it, and turned my focus to the ground, crouching low in the snow. My form stalked the field as I sniffed until I came to a place I could smell some blood but there was no one. I speared my arm into the snow and it was met with solid flesh that gave a moan thanks to me punching them in the gut.

"_Found one!_" I called out before starting to dig, using my claws to shovel out the snow quickly. It seemed nearly instinctual to unsheath my claws. Pure faunus mothers that have to deal with unruly children that had sharp fingers. I switched back to fingers before I got down to skin, seeing as I was helping the guy, not killing him.

The snow gave under my quick shoveling and I found I had not punched the man in the gut… the hit was a bit lower. "_Sorry_," I quickly said as I worked up to dig out his chest and face so he could breath. People were already helping me, so we got him free quickly and soon he was sitting up, holding himself for warmth. I didn't think on why he was a little hunched over.

Using my nose, I quickly found another trapped person, but this time, I didn't punch down too hard in case I hit another man in the nuts. My fist met a squishy body and I dragged my arm up, using my considerable strength to drag a path through the snow up to the person's chin. My claws unsheathed and I dragged the snow up and clear of his mouth, so he took a large breath of fresh air that hadn't been slowly suffocating him.

A window opened in front of me as I dumped the snow to the side. **Aroma Search (Passive):** Level 1 – Allows user to smell out targeted objects or people. +5% to smell when searching. I nodded as I looked down in the hole, my eyes met the red uniform on a Royal Army soldier. When I noticed this, I frowned as I drew out my shitty sidearm and pointed the pistol down in the hole. The barrel lined up with the breathing man's head as he struggled to unbury his eyes and I squeezed the trigger. I didn't linger on the results or the spreading blood in the snow as I withdrew my pistol and holstered it.

The Path all jumped when I had discharged my pistol, looking at me. I gave a stoic glance in their direction before getting low to the ground, beginning my search some more. There was a lot of ground to cover, so it was going to be a long as hell day.


	21. Chapter 21

**Yeah so... i was waiting for my brother to finish betaing this, but he got a night job and literally lives only to work right now. So he didn't get to it and I actually forgot all about it because he forgot all about it lol. I've been working on other stuff that catches my fancy, mostly outlines to degrees of full story series. just finished a 300,000 word outline for a series I might not do. Yeah...**

**Well, sorry for the wait. here's the next chapter. I tried to look it over for faults and such, but I have missed things in the past, and will in the future. Hope you enjoy. Oh and to address those that ask about my backlog. I've advanced as a writing I think since I wrote them and I'm rewriting the plot from Kyrat up to be more... human and such for Jaune. And Aura will come during BEACON. That's final.**

* * *

Chapter 21

I stood vigilant in the darkness with a pair of sunglasses and a bandana to protect my face from the flying ice crystals, a rifle cradled in my arms, while the Golden Path around me dug out their fellow freedom fighters from suffocating in the snow. They were digging each at a marking that I had made myself, using my aroma search skill to hunt down everyone I could smell, didn't matter who. I made a mark where there was a body. Now, I had to keep the grimm of them while the search. So far, only three members had been found alive, the rest having died from the impact.

Halfway through the night, Sabal called out with regret in his voice, "_Alright, everyone… Pack it up._" He sighed as he looked at the ten fighters still around. "Just… _pack it up. Anyone left is dead. They'd have suffocated hours ago and the grimms are starting to get curious._" The fighters were somber as they moved to the vehicles found. All of one car. A four door old junker.

The passenger seat was filled with Sabal, then a driver. The back got five people squeezed in by having a person sit out the window, hooking their arms around the front doors, but that left a whole three people without room. I sighed as I pulled the trunk open and smashed my boot through the back window, putting the barrel of my rifle between the glass and my leg, then sat down on the roof, free hand holding open the trunk lid. The two took the hint and hopped into the back. When they were situated, I smacked the roof of the car and it lurched forward, digging for traction before getting it, zipping off.

The wind whipped at me, but I just hunkered my head from the cold air as I focused on staying on the roof and keeping the trunk open. For someone of my strength, it wasn't all that hard. I did have to chuckle a little to myself when I thought of what we looked like. The back seat with people hanging their asses out with one weird white guy sitting on the roof with a boot through the back window.

The grimm found us funny enough to give chase, even a few lesser Beowolves thought so. Thankfully, the driver was competent and kept a good speed to outrace the monsters in the forest. The wind picked up and kind of sucked, but better than fighting off a pack of lessers. Then we seemed to have gotten more funny as from out of the brush, comes a charging boarbatusk.

I leaned down as it charged, getting closer and closer to the trunk. I peek over the edge to see the two frightened. "_Hold this up!_" I shouted to them, slapping the trunk lid. They looked at me, not understanding for a second before doing just that, rifles still aimed at the boarbatusk.

I nodded to myself and removed my foot from the window. "Alright," I muttered to myself before leaping forward, flipping sideways over the speeding lid. The lid zipped under me and as I fell, I twisted to have my feet aiming slightly forward. Just enough to dropkick the speeding boarbatusk in the face.

My ankles strained from the impact as I rolled to the side, but the boarbatusk was knocked silly from the blow. I rolled to my feet and aimed my rifle at it, discharging the clip into its side. The beast snorted and turn to me as I smashed the metal plated butt of my rifle into its eye, bursting it before I stepped away from the tusks, barely avoiding getting gourd by it.

Out from my side, I pulled out Nox from my hip, and stepped around a retaliating charge, slashing at its side, dropping to a knee with my lunge forward, tearing a line through it. It squealed as I rose back to my feet, turning as I did so, widening my stance as the boarbatusk spun around itself, snorting in pain with a bleeding eye and flank.

I darted forward, not waiting to counter and feinted to its blind side before leaping to the good one, spearing the blade into a thrust to completely blind it, then vaulted over its panicking form, landing like a cat as it tried to hit me from where I use to be. In a cut, I took half its back leg off, forcing it to fall onto its side, exposing the underbelly that I rammed the blade as deep as I could get it through. The soft tissue giving under the well-cared for blade, and I dragged it to the side painfully, the boar dying in pain.

I twist and drew it back, the beast expiring in moments from having its lung impaled and half its vital organs bisected. Spinning the blade and slashing it to the side, I splattered the stomach acid and the gore off the black edge. Putting it to my side and closing my arm over it, I drew it out, cleaning the rest of the blade before pushing it back into the sheath.

Turning to where the car had sped off to, I was running after it at a high speed, sprinting to get the extra speed out of things, until I was catching up with the car which had slowed down significantly. It looked like they were stopping too as I got into view. 'Aww, they were going to come back for me,' I thought with a laugh and continued my run to look more like a jog that wouldn't match a car's speed.

I slowed to a jog before, with a stuttering step, leaped over the opened trunk and landed on the roof. Slipping back into my position, I slapped the roof and the person hanging on my right side told Sabal I was back. The car started and they began moving once more.

The rest of the trip was uneventful and we arrived through the front of a mountain side town, hidden in the shadows of the range it was built under. Only two entrances, one leading deeper into the mountains, and down the side of it, a natural choke point and defensive position against the grimm. There was some stronger gates at the midpoint, hidden pretty well that would stop more of the minor grimms, with sentries on top.

They dismounted from the car, the people inside happy to finally get out of the cramped spaces, and those with their asses hanging out, happy to finally sit down without the risk of falling out of a speeding vehicle.

Sabal came around the side and stood next to me. "_Well_… _we're here,_" He said, the 'finally' going unspoken. "_Welcome to Banapur, home of the Golden Path._" I checked around as I walked down the stairs with the man. There wasn't too many houses around, it looked more like a commune-based living, and the place was relatively clean all things considered, for a place of low technology that was. There was a vibe about the place that was upbeat in the faces of the people walking around, if with a subtle undertone of depression. The oppressive government and grimm attacks no doubt were taking its toll on these people.

In the distance, I heard an increase of gunfire, the grimms we drew in must have arrived at the first checkpoint. Sabal's radio coming to live proved that. "_Fifteen beowolves spotted and we're engaging._" Sabal pulled off his radio and held it to his lips as they walked.

"_Understood, report any changes,_" he said before clipping it back to his belt.

I was about to ask if they needed some help when I heard, "_Who's this?_" And looked over to see a woman marching over, she looked early thirties, with a fourteen year old girl trailing behind her, looking a bit lost. It was always surprising to see youths near my age, the vast difference between me and them always throws me for a loop. "_Where's Darpan?_" She demanded.

Sabal scratched his cheek before lowering his hand with a sigh. "_He didn't make it back from the deal. This… is Jack Skellington, the guy that we heard had escaped Durgesh_," he introduced me.

"_Let me understand_," she said slowly. "_Danpur's dead… and you went out to fight the Royal Army, for this?_" She just flicked her hand my way with a dismissive sound, like I was some low class trash that had washed up onto her doorstep and would leave it to the help to clean.

Stunned, I could only stare for a second before I felt my lip raise in a sneer as a wave of anger crashed through. A bit of my teeth showing behind the bandana as a rumbling growl escaped my lips before I reined in the emotion back into my emotionless state, my gamer's mind helping me get back control.

The woman didn't notice the slip, but the child did, and now she looked at me with some fear. "_We're in a fucking war and you waste how many lives bringing back some kid who managed to not fall down a mountain?!_" She shouted. She looked at me, scoffed and marched off, the girl looking at me for a moment before scurrying after her.

Sabal sighed and turned to look at me, hand reaching behind his back. "_I need to go deal with Amita, umm… come find me in the hut in a bit when you're ready to start doing some work. Get to know the town, it's a great place._" He pulled out a radio phone and tossed it to me, which I easily caught. "_Channel twelve point four for my radio._" I gave him a nod and he hurried off, hopping down the stairs to go after the woman.

Watching him go, I looked down at the radio before sighing. I clipped it to my belt and made my way towards the sound of gunfire. Walking down the path, I found myself climbing a ladder to the wall, seeing that they were shooting at the slowly advancing grimm, not frantically, but the people there were making sure nothing got too close. "_Need help?_" I offered, holding the rifle in his hand.

"_Love some,_" the man shooting at the wall said. I took aim and started taking slow bursts down, focusing on the further targets to soften them up or outright dissuade them this prey was worth the trouble.

Over the next half hour, I picked them off and soon the grimms stopped their advance, the lose not worth the gain. I pulled the empty magazine from my rifle and slotted a new one home, pulling back on the slide, chambering a round. The clicking comforted and calmed me down as I let the weapon swing to hang off my side.

I slapped the back of the man that I fought next to before stepping back, dropping off the gate. It was only with my experience acting like a demented acrobat that allowed me to flip my legs under me in a backflip. Landing, I let my legs collapse under me and rolled along my back across the dusty ground, spinning along my shoulders until I was coming up facing the town.

Following the man's advice, I walked around the town to check things out. The people were weary of me, most likely because I still had my face hidden, but I didn't much care about that. I wasn't there to put people at ease nor did I feel the want to. I was there to kill their oppressive enemy, not put them at ease.

Once I gave the town a once over, I was on the way to find Sabal to get some work done, when I heard a scream of pain rip though the village. The townspeople ducked their heads and hurried off to do what they were doing. I, on the other hand, was curious and jogged towards the source of the sound, coming to a building. Entering, I found myself stepping into a room with a screaming man on a bed, struggling against the hands holding him down, broken bones sticking out of his body.

Sabal was there as he was holding him down as some farmer looking folks were trying to fix him up to some manner of stability. Quickly, I scanned the man to get what was the problem with him, a window appearing before me, and I ignored the useless information. **Multiple fractures on ankle, shine, foot, toes 1-10. Open fractures all along left leg, shattered kneecap, broken shin in 3 places. Multiple deep laceration wounds along entire legs.** He was so hurt I got a level in my diagnosis skill. "Damn," I breathed out as I took a knee next to Sabal. "_What can I do to help? I know some medicine._" The man looked at my covered face and nodded with a thankful expression.

He looked at the farmers. "_Good, we don't. See if you can find out what's wrong with him besides the obvious._" I casted the skill once more, seeing if the new level would improve my examination with some deeper knowledge, since it was now at fifty percent chance. It did and damn if it didn't look good for the man's survival. **5 fractured ribs, left side, 1,2,4,5,11, Cracked sternum, 3 fractured ribs, right side, 3,6,7.**

I quickly looked to Sabal's side and took out his knife from his belt, flipping it around and cutting the man's shirt off efficiently. The thought of me actually cutting him didn't cross my mind, my accuracy with a blade wouldn't allow that. Ripping the rest of the fabric open, I placed the knife down and checked him over visible, feeling along him. "_Broken ribs, five on the left, here,_" I brushed over one. "_Here, here, here, and here,_" I told them. "_Broken sternum, some more ribs._" Sabal and the path members all took a breath hearing that.

I looked at the one big bruise that was the man's chest and leaned down, ears perked. He was gasping and griting his teeth, but there was no wheezing. "_No lung damage,_" I reported before hopping down to his legs, reporting what my skill had told me and I repeated it again, but only got the same thing. "_By Dust, what did this guy do? Fall off a cliff?_"

Looking up, I saw Sabal grimly nod. Well then. "Alright… _uhh… Let's… see what we can do to keep his sorry ass alive then,_" I said with wide as I picked up the blade once more in my hand. "_Sterilize everything… and get me a bottle of liquor,"_ I ordered one. The man went to the side and came back with some moonshine looking stuff. "_Drinkable?_" I asked and he nodded.

"Alright," I popped the cork off it and moved to his head. "Hey, hey," I snapped my fingers in the gritted man's teeth. "_Drink,_" I told him as I helped his head up. I placed the bottle to his lips and he downed half the bottle in one go before passing out. "_Should keep him down for a bit._" Then I got to work.

The next few hours was a trial in figuring out what the hell was needed to keep a man alive. I had to actually cut the man open a few times to sew his bones back together with some metal wire, the rest was getting them back into the body safely, then splinting them up to not make him a complete cripple. The man would never be okay though. Midway through, with my hand in the patient's chest, I got a new skill. "**Surgery (Passive):** Level 1 – Save lives by investigating and/or treating disease or injury. +5% steadier hands, +2% speed of hands, +5% more health from healing."

By the time all the injuries were seen to and fixed to the best of my abilities, I had leveled the skill up two times. The man was stable and sleeping after everything, but his recovery would be a painful one and he would never fully get back to what he was at, but he hopefully would survive the injuries. Sighing as I sat back, using a bloody towel to wipe my hands as the farmers were resting to tto the side. I apparently was the only one who knew how to stitch a wound, which was why I had to do half the stuff by myself, most of the time I was shooting in the dark, but I knew basic medicine and surgery, which was the only way I knew how to sew the ribs.

They were just farmers though, the most they knew how to do was splint a bone, and most had only fixed animal or grimm attacks, but those that would get attacked by grimm were most of the time a lost cause. Bit scary how a war effort's main headquarters didn't have a medic. I just slumped down once my hands were clean, arms resting on my blood stained pant legs, so that my hands wouldn't get more blood on them.

Thankfully, when blood started spurting, I had taken off my hoodie and armor, so they were clean to the side of the room while my undershirt and pants were all that got splashed. My bandana had some splatter on it, but I didn't care about that. "Well… _that was hard_," I said as I looked at the resting man. I groaned as I stood up and got my armor, putting it on, and then putting my hoodie on over that.

"_Well done, brother,_" Sabal said, clapping me on the back with a dull thunk. "_Come, I have need over your… other skills._" I gave a nod as I forced myself to walk out of the shack with him, going through the door. My blood splattered self stood next to the rebellion leader as we looked at the sun that was just raising above the mountain peaks in the distance. "_I told him to climb the radio tower, take it from Min's control to stop his propaganda._"

Glancing over, I followed Sabal's line of sight to a tower that the sun was highlighting, it shadowy silhouette seen from even the village. "_If you're up for it, I'd li-_"

I knew exactly where this was going and stopped him there. "_I can climb it. Not the stupidest thing I've done, even this week._" Sabal chuckled and patted me on the back once more.

"_It'll be a tricky climb, but there are no guards there. You just got to get to the top and reclaim the receiver. Promise me you won't fall,_" the man told me.

I just pulled out a cigarette pack from my hoodie pocket, via my inventory of course, and pulled down my bandana to my neck, my blond beard visible now. I pulled one out and offered Sabal one as well. "_I'll get you your tower._" The man gave me a nod as he shook his hand at the offer of the cigarette. I slid it back into my pocket as I placed the unlit one to my lips. Before my eyes, a quest appeared before my eyes.

**Open Communications  
****Reclaim the Radio tower for the Golden path  
****Reward:** **20,000 lien**

I didn't even bother reading what would happen if I deny or fail. I wouldn't. I stepped off from the doorway and pulled my rifle to cradle it once more in my arms. My sedated walk took me to the archery range, the cigarette lit and smoke streaming from the corner of my mouth. There I saw the woman and girl practicing archery, neither looked tired, so they must not have been at it for too long. "_Kid_," I heard called and glanced to see the woman walking towards me. The young girl in tow.

Stopping so they could catch up, I turned to face them. I raised a stained hand lazily as a greeting before letting it fall to rest on the butt of my rifle. The feeling of the rifle grounded me, made me feel I was just on a job, so if she annoyed me, I could control myself a little better.

"_What are you still doing here_?" She questioned and I tilted my head in a moment of confusion. "_You're just some brat, why are you trying to join a war you aren't part of? Why are you still here?_" I blinked at her.

"_I'm leaving just now,_" I said blandly as I shifted on my heels. I heard her call out something else, but I didn't care to listen as I walked down the road to the gate. I climbed up it and stepped over the side, dropping down into a battlefield as grimms were trying to attack, drawn in by the screaming. I ignored the gunfire whining around me as I drew my blade. Some normal beowolves attacked, so I slashed absently at them, they were so underleveled and beneath me, a good swipe took their limbs and heads off.

My other hand took a hold of the sidearm and I drew it out, firing at anything running at me. I made sure to keep eyes on everything and by the time I was down the road, most of the dangerous ones were dead. I picked up into a jog then turned that into a sprint as I raced through the darkening forest, leaping over fallen trees and brush. As I ran, I noticed the wildlife was doing well, and only came across a few packs in the seven mile stretch to the tower.

The run only lasted for twenty minutes. I was getting fast, pushing fifty with my boosts on. As I ran down the road, I noticed a small path, so I took it up and dound a smooth cliff side with junk at the bottom. Within that junk was a coil of rope with a steel grappling hook on it. I also made note of the Golden Path member to the side with a broken neck and back broken in half over a rock.

I looked at the hook and rope before putting it into my inventory. I could use them one day, but today I wouldn't need to. My claws came out and pushing it into the rock, there was some resistence, but some grinding and I was pulling myself up.

The trip up the side of the cliff was dangerous, but it wasn't the hardest thing I'd ever done. As I climbed through, I made note to pick up some boot attachments for those climbing spikes, so I could kick them in and speed things up. As it was, it took me a minute per ten feet, not bad, but not good in my mind. I could race a car, but a goat could climb faster than I could. It didn't sit right.

Halfway up, I got a skill for my troubles. **Mountaineering (Passive):** Level 1 – Ability to climb, descend, swing across gaps, and other methods of travel along mountains. +5% better use of climbing tools, +5% stronger assisting instruments, +5% speed of climbing.

Pulling myself up on the top, I found the radio tower in front of me and a ping appeared in my mind. Danger. My eyes zipped to the source to find three guards milling around. "Guards my ass," I hissed as I lifted my rifle. I aimed and with a crack, one got a hole in his ear and went down. The two others jumped in fright and dove for some form of cover.

Only one man got to it as I fired a few bursts at the fleeing soldiers, the other getting several rounds into vitals, gasping on the ground. He was crawling towards his comrade while I waited. "_Help me_!" The man screamed out, blood falling from his lips. His arm reached out to the hiding person. I suppressed the horrible feeling that blossomed as I reloaded, hearing the screams for aid from the hidden man.

My finger was on the trigger as I watched and when the man darted out to help his comrade, I put three into his back. Advancing, I put the wounded soldiers down and advanced further into the tower. My hand sought my radio as I entered the tower and started up the stairs. I turned it to the right channel. "_Sabal, come in,_" I said into the communication tool as I started my way up.

The stairs held my weight, even if they were partially rotten. Did creak dangerously though, so I didn't linger. "_Jack, did you make it to the tower alright_?"

"_Yeah, but it was guarded. Three soldiers. Nearly walked into an ambush if I hadn't noticed them. I'm climbing the tower now. I can also see why your boy fell, the climb was easy for me, but to do with ropes, that'd have been damn near suicidal. He's lucky to still be alive._" I informed him as I reached the broken portion of the stairs. No way up, but to find a way around the outside. There had to be a way up. I stepped through a hole in the wall and out onto the roof. I circled around and found a break in the balcony. I took out the rope and tossed it up, the serrated edges of the grappling hook dug into the corner and I climbed up to the next level. "_I'll radio in once I've completed the mission. Skellington out._" I placed the radio back onto my belt.

I found the way into the building and found a board linking to the next stair platform. My boots tapped lightly with each step as I got over them, before jogging up the stairs to find myself at the top. Opening the junction box, I found a tape player and smashed it, ripping out the receiver and flipping the comm switch back online. "_Sabal. Try the comms now. I think I got it working._"

He confirmed that I did a few minutes later and I closed the box up. The moment it latched, the quest was complete. The money appeared in my inventory, but another window appeared. "For completing a quest as someone you are not, you have earned the title, Pumpkin Prince!" I opened the title window and read the description of the title while mumbling, "The hell's that have to do with a pumpkin?"

"Gives the wearer the appearance of the Pumpkin Prince," I read with a furrowed brow. I put it on and pulled out a hand mirror. My eyes widened as I looked at the reflection of someone barely like me. My frame had turned giant, like a skeleton, with bone white skin. My hair and beard had turned black and my mouth was stitched shut with sutures from cheek to cheek in wide, crude strokes of a metalish thread. I opened my mouth wide, and it opened wider than I thought possible, nearly unhinging my jaw. The stitches stretched with my jaw.

The eyes that looked back were no longer blue, but a black, like my eyes had massively dialated. I looked ghoulish. I didn't look like Jaune Arc. Opening my shirt, I found my ribs were framed and my stomach was thin and the muscles no existent. Over my heart was a stylized cartoon pumpkin to throw everything together. Turning off the title, everything returned to the same. I nodded and turned it back on. I didn't need more damage with these people, and my eyes were getting use to the seeing smaller and smaller details.

Placing my hook on a sturdy piece of wood to the side, I jumped over the railing and slid down the rope. Once I finished repelling down, I took the rope and gave a tug of a few hundred pounds of steady force that broke the rotten railing I looped it on, showing me with some wood chunks.

The trip to the village was more sedated as I walked. My glasses were back over my face, but my bandana was gone. My cap stayed on my now jet black hair. I noticed that my arms seemed… a bit longer as they were bone thin. I didn't look human, but I hid that under my armor. Only my face would give me away and no one would ever link me back here.

While walking through the forest, I sang under my breath from an urge to fill the silence, a deep bass sound that gave me a cadence as I walked through the growing lights through the canopy. Along the way, I killed any grimm that thought themselves capable of taking me on.

My radio crackled to life as I jumped over a log. "_Kid, I need to speak with you about something. Meet me by the archery range,_" the rude woman, Amita I believed Sabal said, told me over the instrument. I didn't reply, but I did agree to the quest telling me to go meet her. Nothing else to do. I did finally get the next level in singing for it, all the idle humming and singing finally paying off.

My path brought me up the road to the village, seeing only a few grimm as I approached. I didn't bother drawing my weapons as they were small weaklings. I took a lunging step forward and smashed my boot into a pouncing wolf, sending the level fifteen bouncing off the cliff wall and then I flipped a second wolf over my shoulder, driving its face into the ground. I finished it with a curb stomp to its neck, breaking it under my heel.

My claws came out and I lashed out to the one I kicked whom had tried to tackle my back in my moment of inattention. Three fingers caught its neck as my form stepped to the side and tore a path through the flesh. The beast just continued past me, choking as blood poured from its throat. I stepped forward and kicked it off the side of the mountain. I walked towards the gate and broke into a jog to the side of the gate, running up the cliff face and using my claws to keep me from falling, enough to get my balance to vault off and up, catching the lip of the gate and pulling myself over, coming face to face with a Golden Path member.

His eyes widened as he saw my face and he screamed in fear as he tumbled back away. Have to admit, that was pretty funny. I past him with a snicker and dropped off the back of the gate, landing in a roll, coming up and fixed my hat as I walked deeper into the base.

The way to the archery range had only a few people and they were too caught up in what they were doing to spar me more than a glance, none of them noting my stitches as my beard hid them at a distance. I never thought picking a random play name would have me actually disguising myself as the person. It's… pretty cool.

I found myself walking towards the range with my hands in my pocket. The pair were still there, Amita helping Bhadra work on her archery skills, and the girl wasn't all that good. It must have been a recent thing to start, she still seemed to struggle with the draw. Before I drew attention to myself, I did analyze both so I knew what I was dealing with.

**[Co-Leader of the Golden Path]  
****Amita Jani  
****Level 32  
****1330/1330  
****600/600  
**

**[Tarun Matara]  
****Bhadra Mannan  
****Level 5  
****260/260  
****340/340**

Bhadra fired an arrow that was way off target, hitting the rock to the side of the left most target even though she was aiming at the middle one. Her head fell as she said, "_Sabal says I shouldn't be doing this._"

Amita leaned over and told her, "_I am teaching you how to protect yourself, not how to be a soldier like he thinks I am. Now try again and keep your arms from locking, you're flinching when you release._"

To catch their attention, I gave a cough into my fist. Amita looked up as I was pulling off my glasses while I approached. She looked at me for a moment, searching before flinching when she saw the changes. "_You called?_" I started the conversation as I stopped in front of her.

She gaped for a second. "_What happened?_" She asked in a stunned voice. I said nothing. She shook off the shock and recomposed herself, eyes lingering on the stitches. "_I am Amita, Sabal's… partner in the Golden Path. And that is Bhadra._" He looked over her shoulder to see the girl give a slight wave, shyly holding the bow, also creeped out by his new apperance.

I gave her a nod. "Hello," I greeted her in turn and turned back to Amita. The girl probably didn't speak English, but most things were universal, like the nod of a head as a greeting.

The co-leader of the rebellion looked back at the girl and told her, "_Keep practicing._" Bhadra gave me one last look before turning back to the range, but she checked on us to see Amita was looking at me, so she started to slack off. My face didn't even twitch to show the amusement I felt as she spun the bow like a baton around. "_Look_… _I might have… overreacted when we spoke. We're at war… We keep losing soldiers, the work keeps piling on,_" She said before sighing. "_I'm sorry._"

"_Anything you need my help with_?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow. "_You never gave me a chance long enough to find out I'm an experienced huntsman. Added that I'm also a guard, and I can get rid of a lot of problems,_" I told her, searching for another job to help out. The faster I get their trust, the more work I do, the faster I get a hold of Min.

She nodded and walked to the side, pointing up a path. "_There's a farm not far from here, just up that path. Kanan runs it, but she's old and could use your help with some wild animals. Wolves take to set up shelter in the mountains and they are killing some livestock. I need you to keep the hides intact, so use a bow._" She glanced at Bhadra who was twirling a long bow, frowning before going to the side where she picked up a bow made of sticks bound together.

She handed it to me and I took it, checking it out. "Shit," I exclaimed as I pulled the string slightly. "_I'm gonna snap this thing,_" I laughed.

"_Well try it out at the range_," Amita told me. "_If you need help, my channel is twelve point nine._" She turned and focused on Bhadra. "_Bhadra! What are you doing?!_" She demanded as she marched over to the girl who dropped the bow in fright. I had to tilt my mouth down to hide the smirk that threatened to grow on my lips as I grabbed a quiver, belting it to my waist, resting against my worn and blood-stained pants. Spinning the bow into a comfortable grip, I tried to recall what I had read and heard about archery. I knew not to lock my arms, to bring the string to the corner of my mouth, keep finger down when ready to shoot or the fletching would catch. Breath.

Nodding, I took an arrow out as I examined the bow.

**Homemade Bow – Made of twists, it is a marvel this bow works. 40 lb draw.  
****84/100  
****40 piercing at full draw**

'Joy,' I thought to myself as I notched the arrow and drew it back. When I had it to the corner of my mouth, I sighted the bow to the target in front of me. A frown came to my lips how easy it was to pull and hold forty pounds of force. Ten times that would have been comfortable, now it was like I was holding a toy for a child that I had a very real chance of snapping if I drew back carelessly.

Releasing the arrow, it thudded right where I wanted it to, in the left eye of the human shaped scarecrow. My aim helped by the fact I could shoot most firearms with a dangerous accuracy. **Archery (Passive):** Level 1 – Use of Bows. -1% draw strength, +5% damage and accuracy. Sighing at feeling the weak blow, it didn't even pierce the target, I fired the rest of my quiver, but all that I noticed was that if I gave myself a second, I could mostly hit where I wanted to at the ten meters from the target. It did net me a level in the skill though.

I rubbed my eyes. 'Now I need to get a better bow or the skill would be a waste.' Heading over to the target, I pulled my arrows out, all nine of them, and slotted them back in the quiver before heading off to see this old lady about the wolves. The pointed out small little route took me right to her farm in a few minutes of walking, there I found the woman relaxing in a rocking chair, looking off into the distance with a blank look, a bottle of half empty liquor in hand. Around her were two dead pigs, both looking like they were freshly slaughtered by wild creatures. "Um… _Hello._" I called out. She didn't move. "_I'm here about the wolf problem?_"

The woman didn't even notice me as she took another shot of alcohol. After waiting in front of her for a few seconds, getting nothing, I pulled out my radio, turning the knob to the right channel. "_Amita?_" I asked into it.

"_Kid? What?_" The woman answered in a moment.

"_I have no idea where anything is here and I think the old lady's too drunk to answer my questions,_" I said into the mic as I walked to the side of the farm, following some wolf tracks where they cut off in the flat grass, hidden under some fresher pig tracks and human footprints.

Amita sighed into the radio before telling me, "_Wolves set up there every year, but they always find a place to sleep in the valley. There's a cave in the cliffs in the back of the valley, just north of the pond. Clear it out then destroy it. Skin what you kill, we need the pelts._" I agreed and clipped it to my belt and walked towards the pond I could see.

I didn't have to go far down the beaten path to find a wolf gnawing on a dead pig. The bow found its way into my hand and I drew an arrow back seamlessly. I paused to aim for a second, sighting right behind its front legs, and released the arrow. The projectile flew and started to arch down right under where I aimed, piercing through the flesh and stopping on something halfway through its body.

The wolf coughed, blood flying out of its muzzle, and it weakly took a step forward before collapsing. 'Now to skin.' I approached the beast with my skinning knife, quickly taking the pelt from the beast, leaving just the head and legs with fur to save time. My skinning even got a level to it, been a while since I used that one. The hide looked nice as I rolled it up and stuffed it into my inventory. I would need to carry them back to the farm, but for now, I could keep them in my invisible bag of infinite space.

A bit further ahead, I saw what might have been the den, with a four wheeled ATV in front of it. I turned my danger sense on which told me there were three wolves inside the den, one outside, and.. something much stronger above me! I rolled forward, drawing my blade as I came up, turning to see a beowolf landing on the ground where I had been.

Tossing my bow to the side, I took a step forward, slamming the pommel of my blade into its head. The beowolf hit the ground and it was halfway up when I speared my gladius through its skull, right into the dirt. I took a breath and analyzed the corpse, reading the window as I grabbed my bow. It was a normal level ten, which made sense how it was laid low by one hit to its head, even if it was a really hard one. It should have had enough sense to move.

The bow was notched with another arrow as I resumed my trip down the valley. The guarding wolf didn't so much as make a peep when the arrow went into its eye and outs its ear. 'Not getting that one back,' I thought to myself. Without breaking my pace, I put a new arrow on the string and whistled loudly as I drew it back. A growl went up from the cave and a timber wolf sprinted out, right into an oncoming arrow that hit through its chest, right into its heart, or at least its lung. It fell, driving the arrow deeper, but also snapped the end. Another arrow that was not coming back..

I didn't have time for another arrow, so I just dropped the bow and drew out Nox. The blade would be clean enough. The blade sang as it came out of the sheath, cutting the top half of the next wolf's head as it was nearly on me. The last wolf had seen the rapid death of the other wolves and was more cautious, but in the end, mindless aggression and the desperation fo defending its home won over the sensibility, and I killed it like the others. "Now… to skin," I sighed as I pulled out the knife.

It was nearing sundown as I finished up with the four wolves. It was boring and messy, but I just loaded the five pelts I had by the ATV before moving to the cave. I needed to find out how to bring the cave down still. Heading inside, I noted there were fuel drum and some explosive compound next to it, a large bomb near the entrance. The owner of the ATV's no doubt. A look inside showed the poor soul dead in the den, hand grasping something in a death grop. Checking it out, I was surprised.

**Composition-B Explosive Impact Arrow – Contact explosive on the end that turns on by tapping the tip of explosive. Turn off by a gentle tap to the flashing red.  
300 Concussive and Fire  
Requires force of forty pounds on tip to detonate once activated**

Well… how convenient I had a bow that could do just that much force. I checked the body over to find three more arrows and one with cloth around the head which I could infer was an arrow to light on fire. I stored the explosive to dismantle later to check out how it was made, so I could put it on a better arrow later. The arrows went into my quiver and the fire one I kept out. I would need it to set off the bomb.

On my way out, I impaled the side of the fuel drum, spilling it down the front of the metal to give me something to light. The flame would go out if I just shot it through the metal drum's body, the fabric wouldn't go through after all. Finding my stick bow to the side, I fitted it into my hand and placed the fire arrow onto the string. Taking out my lighter, I ignited the cloth and quickly aimed it as the fabric went up quickly, probably soaked in alcohol once upon a time. All too soon, I had a ball of fire on the end of my arrow.

Taking aim, I fired at the drum and the fire sparked off it, igniting the fuel. I hurried to the ATV as the fire raced up and caught the mixture on fire. The sudden fire inside the barrel had it exploding in a ball of fire, the force and heat collapsing the cave in on itself, sealing it from future occupants. Job done, now all I had to do was turn in the pelts.

I checked the ATV over to find it had a quarter tank and the keys were in the ignition. "Thank god… If they were in the man's pocket," I thought with a chuckle. That would have sucked. Turning the engine, it sputtered to life so I hopped on. I strapped the pelts down with some bungee cord hanging off the back rack to keep it in place.

The trip back to the farm was uneventful, nothing appearing on my senses, and the path had to be taken slow or else I'd over steer off the side of the cliff, which… would suck. As I rode the ATV, I hummed absently to myself, making sure not to bounce off the wall of the cliff. When I came in sight of the farm, I shifted the vehicle so that it would stop by the pig pen. The old woman was still out, but Amita and Bhadra were there as well, doing something for the old woman.

The engine slowed as I approached, but then my senses went off. "Massive danger, two o'clock high!" They screamed at me. I looked up dumbly with enough time to make out the shapes of two normal grimms falling towards me from the upper cliffs, right before one tackled me off the all-terrain vehicle while the other missed.

The impact straight into the ground at twenty miles an hour hurt, but that was a love pat to the three hundred pounds of monster that had plummeted down on me. Catching my breath, I bunched my legs under the snarling beast and kicked it off me. My legs propelled it off my form, stopping it from getting a better hold to attack me from, and it landed right on its friend on standby to join the meal.

Spinning to my feet, I went for my sword, only to find Nox missing. A frantic look around showed my sheath wasn't at my side. The grimm had inadvertently cut my leather belt holding it to me. The belt now at my feet. Growling a little, I glared at the grimms that were beginning to circle me like some prey.

I kept them in my sight, joining the circling so neither got behind me. "C'mon!" I roared at it, my voice shifting slightly to take a more ghoulish sound without my input. This was the gunshot that started the fight as all two met my charge and we crashed in the middle. My fists were lashing out and crunching into their skulls while their claws were cutting at my armor, not getting any traction.

My elbow came down on a neck and the grimm hit the dirt long enough for me to parry a swipe and holding the arm out, pulling the beast off balance, I gave a heavy hook into its elbow joint, snapping the arm in half. It howled in pain and I threw it to the side, focusing on its friend that was getting up between us.

It swiped low and I jumped up, spinning around horizontal to the ground to avoid the strike as well as get a kick across its masked face, stunning it long enough for me to land and restart a brutal combo of my knuckles cracking its mask in blurring jabs and hooks.

I laughed mockingly as I jumped back, avoiding the broken armed grimm's lunge, and leaped back forward, my knee meeting its jaw. Landing on the pummeled on, I kicked the grimm in the stomach before jumping onto its recoiling body, legs locking around its neck and with a twist, I had it on the ground and whole arm across my torso, my arms latched around it. In a sit up, keeping its body to the ground, I snapped its arm before rolling away from a bite.

Back on my feet, I started targeting the wounded and vaulted over a lunge from the whole wolf, landing on the injured one and reached down, prying its mouth open and slotting my boot into it, snapping the jaw down to touch its chest. It gargled in pain as I stepped away from its friend's follow up, weaving around the swipes before countering it, kicking it in its knee, shattering the joint and as it fell, I grabbed the mask and smashed it onto my knee. Its head was hard and bruised my knee, but the beast was scrambling away with chips of its mask falling.

It tried to retreat, but I had a pistol in my hand in a split second and raised, blowing out its good leg. It hit the ground and I shifted my aim, putting two in each leg of the broken creature of grimm. The slide locked back as they withered on the ground. "My, my," I said as I walked to the broken one and grabbed it by the mouth, dragging it to its friend. "It seems you tried to bite off more than you could chew..." I told it as I stopped in front of the crippled beowolf.

Dropping the one in my hand, I ejected the magazine from my pistol and slid home a new one, the grimms now silent as they watched me, blood pouring from their crippled forms. The sound of the slide coming forward echoed the farm. I leaned down and placed the barrel against the jawless grimm and fired three into its skull.

The first two rounds, the body jumped and the third, it just laid still, blood pooling under its skull. The remaining grimm tried to scramble to its feet only for the warm barrel to be placed between its eyes, right against the face mask. It froze, the red eyes glaring at me. "Seems you do feel fear, enough to stop... at least" I noted aloud with a furrowed brow. "Strange. I guess it just takes a lot to get it through to you."

The grimm tried to move as I spoke, but the moment it twitched, I squeezed the trigger. The gun jumped and it fell backwards, gore splattering out the back of its head. I took a step forward, leaning down to place the barrel against its snout, and squeezed the trigger again, then once more, then finished the magazine off. With my off hand, I lightly slapped the destroyed snout to knock its head to the side. "Teach you to touch a man's sword," I told it, anger at being attacked already gone. They died, there was nothing more that could be done.

Licking my lips, I reloaded my pistol once more, putting the empty magazine into my inventory, and looking around the area for my sword, which I found in the grass to my right. I picked her up and held her in my off-hand. I could easily fix the leather belt given an hour, but for now, I'll be holding her. Repair compressed a number of skills into one, from cloth to metal-alloy, so I could manage it.

I walked over to the belt and grabbed it from the dirt, putting it into my inventory with my back to the people. Speaking of people, I had a job to do for one of them. 'Are the pelts okay?' I wondered as I looked at the wreckage of the ATV which was crashed into a stone wall, next to it were the bundles still tired up with the bungee cord.

My boots barely disturbed the dirt as I walked over to them and picked the pile up into my arm. I glanced at the vehicle which was pouring out black smoke from the engine. I quickly flicked it engine off, causing the smoke to slowly drift away, no need to have the ATV burst into flames for no reason. I turned with the pile and made my way over to the trio.

The old woman still didn't seem to know if anything was going on around her. Amita was staring at me with a wary expression as I approached and Bhadra was a bit behind her, hiding from me as I approached. Reasonable, I did just kill two beowolves in front of her, in a more… vicious way. But they had nearly damaged my sword, so it was acceptable causality, even if my rage was getting worse in how I express the little I feel.

Raising my sword hand in a wave, I called, "_Wolves are dead, the caves closed, and I have the pelts,_" I reported to my new boss, placed the pelt to the side of the porch.

The woman exhaled hard as she looked at me and back at the bodies. She focused on the pelts instead of addressing the fight she just saw. "_These are good, kid, but you keep them. She has enough for her thangka paintings._" I started at her with the obvious question burning in my blackened eyes. Amita picked up on it quick, so she pointed to the side. I followed her finger and saw some pelts to the side that had been cured, paintings done on them. "_That one,_" She pointed at the left most. "_Is about the life of a guru._" I didn't understand it or see the story, but I didn't live in the culture. "_That one's about the demon, Yalung,_" She shifted her finger. "_The goddess Kyra, and that one to the side is of Bhadra, the next Tarum Matara._"

That would explain the title. Now if only I knew what the hell a Tarum Matara was it'd mean something. I didn't think long as I saw the door to the side open and Bhadra was helping the old woman inside, casting a fearful glance at me. Way to go, Arc, you've scared the child enough to retreat. Amita turned to follow. "_Tarum Matara is a living goddess, if you believe Sabal._" I looked at her and she stopped at the doorway. "_It's no life for a child, being treated like an object. A thing._" Her shoulders slumped. "_Thanks for the help. Later, we'll show you how to put those to good use,_" She said, gesturing at the pile of pelts. On that, she entered and closed the door behind her.

Blinking, I looked at the pelts before leaving them there, I didn't need them and the old woman would probably like some. Yawning a little, I turned towards the village and started walking towards it to go grab some sleep. It had been a long day. Hell, it had been a long week. All I wanted to do was start the day anew with a clear head, and go in bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Now… literally.

As I walked back to the village, my radio cracked to life with Sabal's voice on the other end. "_Jack, when you have time, go see Longinus. He's a friend of the Golden Path and he'll be grateful you helped us._"

I brought up the radio and depressed the talk button. "_Longinus? Who is he and why should I be seeing him_?" I didn't know the name, no surprise, and I was a little bit weary of meeting new people at the moment.

"_He's a weapons dealer and a priest if you can believe that_?" I found myself a little skeptical as those two professions didn't exactly go hand in hand with a single person. They could be connected, a dealer going to a priest to redeem oneself, but at the same time? Not really. "_Longinus is a little crazy, but if you want guns, he's the man you should see. I'll send you the coordinates by text._" The man hung up and the radio vibrated. I looked at the numbers and realized, I didn't have my map HUD.

Glancing at the side of my glasses, I hesitantly thought, 'Enable mini-map?' A map blipped up of the area around me like the city did on my helmet, but without too much detail, like… only a tiny bit I could see. Zooming out, I found a large portion of the area fogged over. At a kingdom level, I saw there was only a small percentage actually open.

I came to an epiphany then. My map used my scroll in Vale to get information, which was why it was so complete, but here, all I had were the radio towers. The only other thing that was on the map was my trek from the prison with the prison itself. It would seem that the map updated the areas I've been through in person. 'This just took on a whole new use than city navigation,' I mentally grinned. 'Hello surveying jobs.'

When I saw how opening the radio towers helped, I resolved to fix all of them so I could know where everything was. That would make getting Pagan so much easier if I had a map of the land handy at all times. Clipping my radio phone back to my belt, I placed my hands behind my head as I walked down the road, singing a song that got stuck in my head the other day softly so that only the wind could hear it.

I found my way to the village with no problem. Nothing changing since I had left, even the cracks of gunfire from te sentries were near the same intervels. Yawning, I saw it was only five thirty in the evening, so I made my way down to the side of the village and slumped against a tree. Taking out my belt, I began sewing and gluing it back together. It only took an hour and I left it by the tree, in the shadows to dry.

Not ready to go to sleep yet, I was walking out of the village with my blade in hand. I was close to earning a level and by killing the grimm around the village, which no doubt had to be a lot of with the depression here, I could level myself up finally.

I just walked down the road and into the forest the village hung over, killing any nests of minor and normals around. The lessers knew to retreat a distance to not get spotted before they were ready to attack. I didn't need to hunt them down. By ten at night, I had gotten my level with only a few minor cuts and claw marks, so I headed back to the tree and found my belt dry, letting me up it back on.

The level let the day, which had begun like shit, end on a rather alright note. Now if that trend continues, that'd be nice, but… knowing my life, all I could hope for was nothing stupid happen while I slept, at least for five hours.

**Name: Jaune Arc  
****Level: 41  
****Next level: 0%  
****Title: Pumpkin Prince  
****HP: 4450  
****MP : 2200 + 90%  
****STR: 185 + 20%  
****VIT: 214 + 40%  
****DEX: 176  
****INT: 100  
****WIS: 75  
****LUK: 32  
****Points: 40**


	22. Chapter 22

**I won't making any excuses again. Truthfully, I got bored with this story, had work, college, stuff I needed to do over writing this. Sorry for the extended absence. I won't lie, so I will say. It'll probably happen again. With the rewrite, I've discarded some of my stuff. And to those bitching about this being too close to our culture, fucking fine, I've changed some stuff in the coming sections. Longius isn't Christian, but Lunian. I started this when I was 17, I'm 20 now, gotten a bit better at writing, so stop with the complaining about the culture. It's pissing me off.**

* * *

Chapter 22

My eyes cracked open to see grey light around me. It was still before the sun had risen apparently. Also apparent nothing stupid had happened while I slept, which was kind of nice. I stood, cracking my back with a hard inhale and relaxed. Rubbing my eyes I looked around.

'Longinus would probably still be asleep,' I told myself as I looked around. Some of the farmers were wandering out of their houses, but that was it. 'Guess I'll go open a few more towers and such. A productive way of killing time and all.' Rolling my shoulders, I walked quietly through the town and left via the gate. The sentries tried to stop me, but they couldn't do much. Jogging down the road, I opened my map and began looking for anything that could help me.

It was two hours of running later that I found myself on a bell tower turned radio tower, figuring I'll bust that up now to get my map more open. As I smashed the Royal Army equipment, I got a new quest.

**Clear up the Comms**

**Unlock all the radio towers in Kyrat for clear map of country**

**1/17 towers unlocked**

**Reward: Clear map, 20000 Experience**

**Denial: Unclear map**

I hastily accepted it as it would be a useful progress bar in clearing up the entire map, plus I was going to do it anyways as having a map would help me never to get lost, like I would ever give that up. A little curious why I didn't get that yesterday, but hey, I wouldn't complain, might have been due to being on another quest solely for it. I'd learned to stop questioning the madness. All I know is, getting lost had fucked me over many times in the past, the star of all this could have been avoided if I knew which way to walk, and I've learned from those mistakes. Mostly.

Plus the reward would be a fifth of what I needed for a new level. Forty had been a something awful of a grind and I couldn't imagine the rest of the levels would be any easier. I already needed almost one hundred thousand experience to level up, which I got around one thousand every D class clear job, even less for my guard detail, so it was slow going. I was amazed I was actually level forty-one really.

While I was there though, I looked around and marked on a notepad the general location of the towers I could see around... four in total as I was currently in a type of valley which had mountains, not too high, but enough they blocked things from sight. This was going to take a bit to clear. Taking out my slightly opened map, I mentally found the coordinate squares and noted them down too as an estimate of where the tower was, close enough that I would be able to find it once I got to that area itself. Wish I could make notes on my map itself. I paused, but… nothing. I couldn't.

As I was about to leave, I saw some smoke to the side, white, from a controlled fire. I saw that I was overlooking a camp of soldiers from the tower's position. Frowning, I stalked forward to the edge of the old structure and using my semi-automatic rifle, I scanned the outpost.

The place had several turrets around, four manned, one for every direction, but it was walled up with wooden logs with spiked tips. The angle was wrong from the tower though, with half the courtyard blocked off from view with the one building there.

I looked the area over and saw a better position a mile from me, a quarter mile from the outpost. It was on the side of a hill where there were plenty of brush to hide in, with a clear view of the courtyard. Plan set in the first stage, I hooked down the side of the tower on a sturdy railing, holding my hat in place as I descended before ripping my gripping hook down in a shower of splinters from the ancient wood.

My feet carried me quickly and silently through the forest, skirting a large crescent around the outpost until I was on the hill, opposite the side I needed to be, but by the time I was there, the sun had finally gotten over the valley's mountains. Stalking low, I grabbed some brush and branches, putting them on my hoodie, as I started crawling through the dry underbrush carefully.

I did things slow, like a snake, just wiggling down through the hill until I created an opening with my rifle. Then I looked at it with a frown. Reaching behind me, I pulled out some twigs and branches, adding a bipod of wood with leaves on it, only cutting away parts in the way of my scope, then added some leaves and mud to the barrel of the weapon. 'Get a net,' I told myself as I finished the work.

I put some mud on my face to break up the white that wasn't covered with hair and I started scouting. My eyes landed on the courtyard once more, this time I saw it was in full swing. I started to slowly breath until my breath only came out only in soft puffs. Then a pop up appeared and I frowned, dismissing it with the question of why I didn't have it before. **Breath Control (Active):** Level 1 – The ability to control your breathing rate. +1% Stamina regeneration rate, -1% air needed per breath. I mean, I didn't do much in the way of proper marksmanship while being Hawke, but I thought I'd have done something like that… though my fighting was usually reactionary.

I ignored the message and thoughts as I focused on slowly my breathing more and more until my heartbeat was loud in my ears, and my eyes didn't waver from my scope. My count began and over three hours, I watched the camp. Then, when I was confident on the number of soldiers, twelve with one of them being an officer leading them within his office inside the main building.

The camp had four guard towers to look over the wall with a building to the east side, the rest were tents and such for the soldiers, a campfire in the middle. There was an alarm system by the building that I figured putting a bullet into would disable the equipment.

The camp also had another attraction right outside it, on the north side, so I didn't see the true scope of it. The camp was on a slight incline that plateaued briefly, and at the start of the incline once more, there was a pile of dead bodies, half wearing peasant clothes, and the other half wearing Golden Path colors. The bodies looked, not fresh, but they were not old. They wanted to draw the grimm in to that side, I realized. The incline would make mounting a defense easier. Sickening.

As I finished my count, I took a brief picture of the image from my scope of the overall camp using my scroll, making sure it added the date and time. Before. I stored it and repositioned myself, my breath slowing even more, on my third level of the skill. Then my danger sense went off.

My breath slowed even more as a grimm was walking from next to me, then another, and another. A pack of Beowolves were literally on top of me as they stalked through the brush, growling to one another. My heart was hammering as I forced myself to breath less and less, stilling everything. They sniffed around before they continued on. I slowly let out a small breath as the last threat disappeared from my senses, replaced with a window. I better have got a skill for that shit! **Camouflage (Passive):** Level 1 – to hide or disguise presence by blending in with surroundings using necessary implements. -1% chance of being found.

That made sense… I guess. I slowly regulated my breathing once more, my heart slowing down as I focused back onto the task at hand. My crosshairs landed on the gunner facing away from me and that no one was looking at. I squeezed the trigger and the bullet zipped from my barrel, the explosion of the gunpowder a bit loud, but the bullet didn't crack the sound barrier as it flew true, taking the head off the soldier.

My aim shifted as I saw him slump and I rapidly began to take down the gunners, but I was sloppy, I didn't account for some eyes, and one saw a man go down, the last one actually. So I kept firing as they started to panic until everyone was in cover, knowing where I was, or the general direction I had been shooting from. I needed to move, but I didn't have the skill needed to do so without immediately giving myself away.

So instead, I watched. That was how I noticed someone going for the alarm. I shifted my aim and put two rounds into the box as I wasn't confident in a head shot from a running man at a bad angle, sparks flew from the box as it came apart and as the man got there, he tried the alarm, but it did nothing. He had a brief moment to register this before he had three large caliber rounds punched through his back. He had stayed far too long. He slid down the alarm pole, slumping to the ground as he grabbed at his chest.

He was seventh down. Five more left to kill. The magazine dropped from the weapon and I slowly slotted a new one in and aimed the rifle where I knew two were hiding. They were behind a wooden wall, so I sent a round on the side that was closest to more solid cover and the two tried to flee right where I wanted them to go, the pair getting taken down mid flight. Three. And I knew where each of them were.

One was hiding behind the side of the building, peeking out and estimating if he could get inside, while the other two were in said building. I just checked the windows and saw a shadow move. I didn't fire as it could be nothing. Then the soldier made a break for it, getting immediately clotheslined by two bullets into his sternum and up his falling jaw, out the top of his head. His brains splattered the floor in full view.

My face didn't change as I sighted the building and waited. I was patient and in ten minutes, the people peeked out, and I did nothing, let them think I left. They didn't have the comms tower and their alarm system was broken. They had nothing. And they knew it.

The soldier made a dash for things, his goal clearly the gun to light up the forest and I remembered something. The image of a soldier reaching out for help flashed before my eyes and my aim shifted down. A bullet left my barrel, spinning from the rifling and drilling right into the hip of the soldier, destroying the pelvis, ceasing all ability to walk.

He went down screaming, holding the wound on his side, legs scrambling, but not working right. He clenched the bleeding hole in one hand and began desperately dragging himself forward. I put two rounds just in front of his head. Then I waited once more. I could finally hear the shouts, but I could clearly see the man trying to crawl, his mouth opened as he cried for aid. Aid came too. The officer ran out with a rifle, shooting in my direction. I ignored the fire and tracked the man. As the officer grabbed the wounded soldier, I killed the wounded one.

The officer was stunned long enough that he didn't get out of the way of the round entering just above his ear. The ringing of the final shot was in my ears as I watched the growing pool of blood on the ground. I took a breath in, and slowly released it, taking in the air I was not getting as I fought. I felt sick as I looked at what I did.

An uneasy weight in my stomach at the terror I inflected on the soldiers, overcoming the pride I felt for pulling off such an ambush. My forehead met the metal of my warm rifle softly as I closed my eyes. 'Never again. I will do this quiet, they will never see me again. A ghost.' Slowly, I inhaled and opened my eyes. Standing from the brush, I stalked down the hillside and entered the camp, clearing it out with the rifle leading. There was nothing else alive. Pulling my scroll back out. "After," I quietly told myself as I put it down by the gate, to get the shot of the camp. I stood with the rifle held by the barrel, covered in dirt and branches, my stitched up face half covered with my black eyes and white skin standing out in the sun. As the picture was taken, I got two levels to my camouflage skill and a quest.

**Clean Out Pagan Min's Forces**

**Help the Golden Path by clearing out outposts held by Royal Army**

**1/24 outposts remaining**

**Reward: 500000 Experience, clear roads**

**Denial: Routine patrols by Royal army doesn't stop**

I accepted the mission for the same reason as the radio tower. The rewards were great, it was a progress bar, and I was already going to do that. I was already deep in, having killed over thirty men. I might as well finish what I started on the way to kill Min for making me a freak! Take his soldiers from him, destroy his influence, put his people in the seat of power. I was going to do it anyways, I was not one to quit, not since I got these powers, not since I first joined the Lukan guard. If I was, I'd have quit when I nearly got my face chewed off, or gotten shot, or lost a finger, or even when I nearly was killed by the pack of beowolves. If I didn't quit then, I wasn't going to quit when it was too damn personal.

I rolled the dead corpses and found a lot of money on them, making me believe there was no real banking system, so they carried a lot of money on their person, less likely to be stolen from their bunks no doubt. There were also some narcotics. I kept the marijuana, tossed the harder stuff into the fire. Then I walked into the outpost fully, finding the officer's study.

Turning the place over quickly, I found the location of more of the camps around, not all of them, but the ones close by and a few across Kyrat, in the eastern half that was blocked off by mountains and a large, heavily defended bridge.

Once the place was fully looted, I sent a text off to Sabal about the place being taken down and the location of it. My job done with the path, I went to check on Longinus than finish up with the bell towers in the immediate area. I wanted the map cleared up and that, nearly two levels worth of experience.

As I was leaving, grimms were already gathering to swarm the camp and I quickly started putting on some camo again, hiding in the brush to the side, my breathing slow. I barely let my breath come out as pictor, grimm equines with battering ram like antlers and spiked hooves, sniffed around, not having seen him as they rushed into the camp to eat the fresh meat.

When all the beasts were in the camp, all being level twenty to thirty, I closed the gate behind me as I entered, and charged with Nox. These, I would feel nothing for killing. The pictors, they bucked, kicked, and swung their heads like maces, but in an enclosed space where they couldn't get any stretch of land for stampedes, the herds were useless. They died with only getting a few glancing hits off, hits I blocked.

Seeing as it was about... not quite morning morning now, I decided that I could manage a few more towers and camps. My first trip was to the next tower as it was closest and I wasn't altogether sure where some of the other camps were. I'd have to talk to Sabal about more concrete information after I get through the ones I had. It must take a while to set up camps, seeing as they had rebels _and_ grimm they had to defend against while still oppressing the locals.

What made it easy to do was the fact that Kyrat was indeed cut in half. That meant I wouldn't logically run around the entire kingdom in a big circle to do the mission objectives, but I would cut the kingdom in half again, doing a quarter at a time, to better manage things and such.

The climb for the next tower was slightly more confusing, but I still managed to get up it with little problem. Then the challenge hit as I actually entered the objective to climb, not just the hill it was on.

Some of the stairs were gone, but with my claws, I just went up the side instead of the outside ladders like the Royal Army seemed to have foolishly set up. How there wasn't blood stains littering the ground inside was beyond me, because the tower, while mostly intact, was a death trap. Good news for me because it wasn't likely the Royal Army had people that could do the same acrobatic stunts to get up with the needed equipment to highjack it before I had my revenge. After that, the kingdom would be under new management.

Now for the next, I thought to myself as I repelled down the tower and tore my hook down again. As I jogged at a speed that would be over most sprints for normal folks, I came across another camp, this time it was in a clearing on top of a hill. No good positions, no trees tall enough, so I was doing this close and personal. I checked my suppressed rifle to see she was fully loaded and Nox was ready.

The sun was about to rise, so I went opposite of that direction, using the shadows of the wall and darted forward as fast as I could without the lookout seeing and got to the wooden wall. I snuck in by climbing over the wall carefully, peeking to make sure no one was on the other side or looking, before getting in. I might hate how I was forced to be a faunus, but I couldn't deny I loved what came with it. My claws were literal life savers.

It only took me several minutes of walking around to see everyone I needed to see. Ten in total, one officer, four gunners, four off duties that were working out in the center. The officer overseeing their training. One was in the officer's quarters though, so he would need to be first due to me not having eyes on him.

Ducking into the building was simple and I stalked through with Nox drawn, heading up the stairs I found to get to the second level. My footsteps were silent as I listened to the man as he talked into a radio. From the transmission, they were getting a warning to be on the lookout for golden path fighters, a camp had gone dark. The man confirmed and I stepped into the room as he said his parting bits, waiting for him to hang up.

The moment he did, I put a sword through his spine, out his neck and drew it back messily as I stepped aside from the majority of the spray. I finished him with a blade spearing his falling head, hanging it as the rest of his body fell, snapping his neck before I kicked the skull off my blade.

Nodding at the job done, I moved to the desk, grabbing a few plans, some locations of towers they were in charge of guarding and other camps, some cross-checking with the ones I know, so that made the information more solid. Everything was pocketed because I just wasn't knowledgeable enough to know what could be needed and what couldn't. I was no leader, just a killer. I also found some mass-produced Boar's Cigarettes which I snatched up with a slight smile. I was running a bit low, since I smoked like a damn chimney. Once those were in my pocket, I broke the radio by tearing the front off with a series of pops.

Closing the curtains, my footsteps led me to a window facing the back of the compound, by the fence. Opening the window carefully, I rolled up to stand on the edge, my boots carefully placed on rotting wood I wasn't altogether sure could support my weight. Taking a fortifying breath, I leaped up and hooked my free hand on the roof and one arm drew myself up, peeking over to see the gunner was looking across the field to my left, not noticing anything.

Slowly, I shimmied further down to the side and rolled up, staying on the ground as I retook out my rifle and checked around to see no one was looking up. A small bang echoed the field, alerting the quiet area something had happened, but it wasn't a gunshot, to their ears. The gunner fell with a hole through his ears.

Keeping down, I rolled off the side of the building and landed in a crouch, keeping in the shadows as I moved along the wall, past the five that were moving towards the building and getting across the camp, blew the head off the opposite gunner before quickly finishing off the other two.

The five turned at the sound as I stepped behind a shed, leaning back a bit to stay in the shadows. Just listening. The officer ordered one man to check with the captain, and three remaining to check on the source of the sound. The man then called for a report from the gunners, but got nothing.

That was when I stepped out with my fully reloaded rifle and sighted the officer, putting a bullet into his head and shifted to the three soldiers, who didn't freeze, showing their training, but quickly dove for cover our in one's case, drew a machete to charge.

My gun barked four times, the two going for over went down, writhing in pain with the bullet's in their chests, gasping at the feeling of being shot. The last, my eyes met as he got close and with a swift duck and sidestep, I was in his guard and he overextended the swing. My rifle butt hit his elbow, snapping it, the blade clattering to the ground and my boot snapped his leg backwards, causing him to fall where I finished him off clinically. Disarm, incapacitate, eliminate.

The door to the outpost burst up, the soldier crying the captain was dead, only to eat a bullet before he registered how the entire camp was dead. After looting everything, I made sure to get the picture as a record of the battle. It was just about sunrise, well… if there wasn't mountains in the way for most of the valley.

I left the compound richer and one out of twenty-three more steps closer to completing a giant mission. Having time, I just went to continue to get my job done, I wanted those towers gone after all before I really started working with the path. It would make everything easier in the long run, comms getting to soldiers spread out, getting to me wherever I was, and I could map things out. Not having to deal with the grey overlay of everything but one small path from Durgesh into an erratic dash around back to the base.

The third outpost I met had only eight men, and they never saw me. They weren't too alert, I had only taken the other outpost an hour ago so nothing was raised yet. No one noticed anything until there was no one left to notice. My camouflage even got a level even if it wasn't needed. The grimms weren't even alerted by the distress, because really, there was only a little bit of general worry from them.

Another two towers went down and one more outpost followed after that. The towers were becoming increasingly less maintained and would have been a pain in the ever loving ass if I couldn't just scale the rock walls without any aid. That did help my mountaineering skill of all things though, getting two in it which was interesting. Technically it was climbing. The outpost was a pushover, only one really noticed anything was amiss and that was just long enough to register there was a grenade that rolled under his feet as he was standing in a huddled group with four others.

The outpost wasn't nearly as clean as the other two I did, but it was quick and simple. I would have done it clean, but there were multiple faunas around and one noticed me ducking around a corner and investigated with one other soldier, so I had to lead them on until I ambushed them behind a building and killed them from behind. Two swings that were too fast for either to react too, two heads hitting the ground. It was...exhilarating to be that close to being caught. I forced that feeling down. I had to kill two men after all.

As the sun was climbing, it getting to be around noon, I finally packed up and made my way back the nearly one hundred miles to where Longinus was said to be. I hadn't really kept him waiting as it was logical I wouldn't come at the crack of dawn. It was a short trip since I stole one of the few jeeps from the latest outpost.

I made sure to ditch it before anyone saw me and thought the wrong idea, though… there was little chance of that. The armor around the sides and the thicker windows made whoever behind the wheel look like Royal Army.. All in all, I hiked only five minutes at a jog to get to the mile it was from the gun dealer.

I hadn't received a text from Sabal replying to the outposts I took, but I didn't care too much. The man was busy and I didn't expect him to check his phone every hour on the hour for messages when he had things he had to handle.

On the way, I cross-checked everything I found and read a few of the plans to see if there was anything of note. Nothing, just some gold mining plans, some statistics, reports, that dull stuff that keeps everything rolling. Everything a rebellion probably wouldn't look twice at. I also crossed off the towers and outposts I did, so there was that.

It was just as I was finishing when I came to a small set up. It looked like a temple that had a mortar dropped on it at one point, then overran by grimm if the broken wall and scratches would be believed. I just walked on up to the building with the light on and knocked on the paint peeled door. "Come in!" A voice called in accented and lisped english. Pushing the door open, the hinges squeaking painfully loud, I entered to see a large black fellow in the middle of the room.

His hair was greying and drawn back in a messy style that was clear he didn't groom too often. There were tinted scales sporadically around his skin too, what was visible, with slitted eyes seen in the gloom. It was also rather hot in the room, which would make sense with him being a cold-blooded fanus. He was reading a leather bound book while leaning on a desk in the center of a room filled to the brim with guns. One of which he had in his hand, a small automatic pistol some of the army uses. Atlas policing force weapons, nothing that great and too little to pack the punch I needed for grimm.

Most of the room were common assault rifles, sidearms, and explosives. Crates littering everything not holding a weapon, no doubt holding ammo for said weapons that were on the walls.

He looked up from his book, nearly painfully, him having to pry his eyes away to look at me. Eyes that had a hint of madness in them. "Welcome!" he greeted, gesturing around with his pistol. "I am Longinus and you..." He pointed the weapon in my direction, close enough my hands twitched to draw my own sidearm. "You are Jack Skellington." I stared at him as he slowly pushed himself up, eyes on his gun. The man continued to speak in a tone of excitement. "Welcome to my Temple away from Temples!"

"A temple that sells guns?" I said, glancing around and seeing a stylized star of the Oath hung from the side, right in the window to cast a shadow over the room at the right time of day. That was the only hint it was a holy place.

All my comment did was put a large grin on the man's face. "Of course!" he said with cheer. "For the Oathful shall reclaim the remains, my friend! All they need are some good guns!" he waved his book around, a similar star on it, curved points meeting with more at varying lengths to form the end resulting symbol. Each line apparently meant an oath or something in the book. The Script of Oaths. A book on the worship of a fallen warrior fabled to be a god that swore to return to destroy all grimms and reward the faithful.

It had risen in popularity for a time, long held, but a more Atlasian religion had come over with their workers and everything, bringing the Word of Oum to the land, how it was a god that empowered the people and made dust, giving the tools to fight for themselves, to never need to rely on something by faith. It worked in a hunter society where the Oath worked in a more… weakened place.

The man talked, drawing me back in. "And one of the elders sayeth unto me, Weep not, behold, the Lion of the tribe of Cross! The root of Shaw hath prevailed to open the book and loose the power of the light from within!" I think I missed something, but really, I didn't know why I was there. I had my guns, but having a contact that could get more was probably a good thing in my current occupation. The man finished the reciting, clearly from memory, not the pages he had open before him. Nor how it related to guns, but he was going to answer me, my question not seen nor heard, but damn if I wasn't getting an answer. "It is our savior! It is our savior returned to us as a lion! A Warrior!"

I was still utterly confused about what I was witnessing as the man went on. He leaned in close suddenly, as if to impart some secret knowledge, the gun in his hand getting more than a little bit too close to my head, but thankfully was pointing up, so the worst he could do was put a bullet in his roof. "So," he started. "I began thinking to myself. When the warrior of light returns to carry his oath, what gun would he use?" Fair question… I think.

Fair as it might be, I didn't know if that was rhetorical or not. So all I did was open my mouth and utter, with the backing of my large intelligence, a firm, if confused, "Wha-" before the man cut me off.

That seemed to be enough for the lizard faunus as he twirled around. "When Luna returns to fulfill his destiny, he shall return as a lion and a lion needs teeth!" In a smooth turn, he repeated as he looked over his weapons, "What gun would Luna choose?" He picked up an AK-47, and looked it over as he continued with his brand of madness. "Vow 6:47? 'For there are no empty words for you, but your very life!" he started shaking the gun before he pointed it at me.

In a blur to the man, my speed enhanced by the need for survival, expecting it from the man who seemed to have never took a firearm safety course in his life, and my many combat boosts, I had the barrel of the rifle in my fist and wrenched it to the side, away from my head. The man went on undeterred from the sudden movement, releasing the firearm into my grip. Said firearm being put down to the side, away from him. "Or maybe," he started, turning back to his desk and walked over. "Oath 19:11. 'The discretion of a soul is his anger." As he spoke, another gun, found its way into his hand, a nineteen-eleven as the pattern was continued. Following it all the way as I disarmed it from him for pointing at my head.

In a single, more smooth motion, I had my own version of the pistol in my hand, against his skull. "Keep pointing loaded firearms at me and I'll make sure you don't see your savior's return!" I growled at the man as I tossed the gun back onto his desk. All the man did was grin, not even looking at the weapon that his forehead was wrinkling around.

Longinus continued on like he didn't have cold steel pushing into his face. "You need guns to do righteous work, yes," he said as he moved and leaned on his desk. "For every gun, there is a Script, for every bullet, an Oath. And for every radio tower that you free from Pagan lies, I will give you a script. It is the will of Luna." The man grinned more and grabbed, slowly this time, something from the table as I slowly lowered the pistol, my finger still inside the trigger guard. He raised the item and I saw it was a bow, a mass produced one if the clean look was anything to go by. "For your work at that tower yesterday."

I gently took the bow from him and analyzed it, not expecting too much.

**Recurve Bow – Mass produced recurve bow. Design allows for more power. 50 lb draw**

**400/400**

**60 piercing at full draw**

I was right, this bow was just a step up from the wooden one, which made it so both I couldn't use. It'd just be more spectacular to break this one at an over draw. I handed it back to the man to his confusion. "It's too weak to be anything but a liability to me. It's a fine bow, but I have the strength of a huntsman, I will break it in while in the heat of a battle," I informed the man. "For ten towers worth of work, if you get me a hunter's bow with arrows, that will be enough for me."

He set the bow down onto the desk quietly and looked me in the eyes, his slitted ones on my black ones, the madness taking a tone back as he was now with a customer. "What kind of bow? If it is within Luna's word, I will find it."

"Draw weight between eight hundred and twelve hundred pounds Arrows that go to it of course," I said and he grinned as he wrote down the order.

"A tough one, a challenge to prove my oathfulness. You have a deal!" he stated, slamming his palms on the table, making everything on it jump. "I'll call you when I have it in!" I nodded my thanks and acknowledgment at the end of the order as I turned to leave.

The moment my hand touches the door, my phone turns to life and I heard Sabal on the other end doing a rebellion wide broadcast. "_Banapur is under attack! We need fighters here now!_" The door was barely open before I was taking off at a dead sprint, leaping over the crumbling wall, landing the two stories to the forest floor below.

It was a simple matter to roll out of the fall before picking myself up to keep the momentum I got from my dead sprint. The vegetation ripped up as I ran through, the parts that got in the way of the course I had already plotted out in my head at least. I made sure my minimap was open to keep on that course even through a jungle that looked the same going right, left, or up.

The trees blurred by as I ran quickly. From the pain in my shoulder and the shrapnel on my clothes about three minutes into the charge, I could safely hazard that I had accidently punched through a tree without immediately noticing. I needed to get better at moving around in the jungle before I met a tree I couldn't go through.

Then, I was bursting out onto a road, taking off up it as it was the main road, well… dirt path, that the Rebellion used. In a minute, I was hearing gunfire cracking, and getting closer every second, enough that Nox found a home in my hand as I charged around the next bend.

As I skidded around the side, picking my legs up again to continue the charge, I saw three golden path members being shot at by four Royal Army soldiers. I continued to sprint down the road at the speed and force of a truck.

The four didn't even notice my advance until I shoulder rammed one of them, breaking their body around my much harder one, as my sword lashed out, boots already skidding to a halt. The broken man continued onward a few meters while another soldier's upper half plopped onto the ground in a gory mess. The last two were turning towards the sound of bones shattering and the gasp as I drew my sidearm.

The barrel was levelled as the first man got eyes on his bisected comrade and a crack heralded his demise without seeing the source. A shift of the weapon followed by three more shots and the last one dropped from a bullet in his heart, another through his lung, and the third missed, to my disgrace, from the haste of which I fired.

I stood there, breathing deeply from the fast flight as I reloaded my weapon carefully, storing the magazine away to be reloaded later with the rest of the rounds. The golden path members were coming out slowly, looking at me and about to say something, but I had a fight to get to. I slotted everything back into their sheaths and holsters as I started taking off down the road once more.

Just ahead of me was the mountain the town was hidden on, or would be if not for the giant black smoke pillar coming from it, and grimms were starting to climb up the path, that I saw. This was going to be a pain in the ass with them around! I slashed as I ran past the monsters, jumping over the burning roadblocks, made for cars, so I got through with ease as the boarbatusk punched through. The grimm took swings at me, but my retaliations killed while their own strikes barely bruised me.

A series of explosions sounded over my head and in front of me. My eyes widened as the path started falling from under me and a look up showed a landslide. A grimm last deterrent. I overdid it and my feet barely hit the ground before I was meters ahead of the impact point, getting just out of the range of the landslide as it engulfed the beasts behind me.

My head twisted back to the village to see four Royal Army members charging, seeing that I had survived the landslide. My pistol was out as I charged them, there was no other way on the narrow chokepoint.

The pistol jumped in my hand as I zigzaged, not the best for my aim, but the best I could manage for my safety as hostile rounds cracked past me. One soldier went down before I got there and a quick draw had a second bisected from hip to chest. Spinning past him, the blade came up just so to slice through the neck of the next man and I let the swing overextend, dropping me into a roll around the other man as his gun fired at where I had been.

Coming up, I speared the weapon into the man's back, out his stomach. His legs seized up as I took the blade out, him screaming in pain I swiftly put a stop to. Picking myself up, the war path continued towards the gate which I didn't even need to jump due to the morons blowing it open for their vehicles to get in. If they hadn't gotten to the civilians, the grimm surely would have. It's like no one thought of the grimm outside their little war they had going on!

In front of me, I saw a machete wielder swinging at an injured unarmed woman, cuts already across her body, so I upped my speed more and in moments, I was leaping into the air. My feet carried me down, driving the attacker's body into the crumbling stone wall behind him, the sounds of his bones snapping was covered by the nearby sounds of a massacre.

As I settled, I noticed a man standing across from us on one of the houses' platforms, a soldier, raising his rifle towards me. In an effort to silence the man, I grabbed the injured man's machete and hurled it end over end across the distance, groping for my pistol. That I didn't need as the blade somehow flew true.

The steel parted his breast like an axe through wood. He fell, grasping at his chest in confusion, breaking through the weakened railing to bounce into the field, dead from the fall. Two messages appeared as I finished off the man at my feet with a bullet into his eye. Two levels to my throw for that lucky hit.

Looking back at the wounded woman, I barked, "_Stay low and get into the village, the grimms were stopped by the landslide, but not for long!_" The woman gave a shaky nod as she looked at me in fright. Must be how I just killed two guys in front of her. Turning my head forward, I quickly sprinted into the town, seeing a man shooting an AK deeper into the village, his side to me.

Pulling out my own AK, I shouldered it once my pistol was safely back into the holster, I lined up the shot with the man's side and fired a burst. He went down, withering at the damage inflicted by the reality-bending bullet. Getting into the village, I vaulted up to the platform the man had fallen off of, hopping to flank around to pick off a few guys and save some rebels.

As I landed, I turned to move when I saw a man already aiming at me. He looked surprised at my appearance in the spot of the dead man. I was just as surprised, but to my bad luck, he was more ready to put some bullets into me than I him. He got a burst off as I raised my own rifle.

My left leg twitched and spasmed as I felt three hard punches going up my thigh, shattering the bone and barely missing taking my junk off, one bullet breaking my hip bone so I would be forced to be in pain with every step I took. I fired at the man, not giving him a chance for a second and my rounds hit more true, knocking him back into a wall and I finished the magazine off on him.

The wall behind him was coated in visceral and bone fragments as he laid dead under it. I winced and looked at the wound. It wasn't bleeding enough to matter, but it was pretty bad. I could finish the fight with it though. Nodding, I took a hard inhale and banished the pain from my mind as I began limping deeper into the village, intent to kill the rest of the Royal Army.

It was safe to say where there was gunfire, there was Royal Army, so I followed the fighting, killing as I went until another ten ransacking men were dead from my own work until I heard a radio crackle to life on one of the bodies. "_Reinforcements inbound, hold out for thirty seconds. We are dropping in the field!"_ A grin found its way to my face at that convenience. I reloaded my rifle before letting it hang from my body. The moment it was secure, I pulled out two things from my inventory. My shitty bow and my C-B explosive arrow.

The sound of a bullhead engine reached my ear and I found myself in the field, looking up at the incoming aerial vehicle, an older model of bullhead that had larger turbines to keep it aloft. Made for transporting cargo commercially. It was modified to be military, but the roots and more importantly, the weaknesses were still clear.

The arrowhead tapped onto my palm, I notched the arrow and aimed it up carefully, doing the math in my head as my eyes focused on the goal. One of the turbines. If I take that out, it'd conceivably send it plummeting down the cliff and to its death, away from anything important. As the doors opened to the bullhead, I released the rapidly blinking arrow and watched.

The wind fought and made it wavier, but not enough that it didn't strike into the blades of the transport. The bullhead violently jerked to the side, going perpendicular to the ground and started going down into the field, not as safe as I'd like, but on impact, it bounced and rolled off the cliff, leaving a trail of burning oil that scarred the land it struck.

As the fire crackled, I heard someone yell over the radio. Who, I had no idea since I had seen no one but citizens and enemies this entire fight. "_I see soldiers heading for the community pucca!_" How?! I just killed them all and the road's blocked!

Ignoring the how, just that it was happening, I running limped back into the village and found a squad of five converging on a large burning building. My blood ran cold when I heard Sabal's cry over the radio. "_Bhadra was in there when we left!"_ My rifle was picked up and I fired at the five, killing three from the fire and the two wounded. I finished them off with my pistol as I limped past, not looking down for long, just enough to make sure my bullet found their head.

The door of the pucca was steel and with my leg, I wasn't confident I could get it open. Plus the burning air bellowing out would put a damper on things. I circled, looking for a window and found it on the upper floor, around the back. There was a little jump, but I managed with only one leg in use.

I crawled in and found my way downstairs, covering my mouth with a neck warmer to keep the smoke from getting unrestricted access of my lungs as I moved around, searching the smoky room. But, I couldn't see anything and more so once the smoke stung my eyes. Though, as the smell of burning wood and cloth filled my covered noise, I smelled human over it. And then I remembered my new skill. I sniffed hard and got Bhadra's scent. It was a difficult thing to pinpoint in the less than optimal conditions, but I found it, earning me a level in the skill.

The scent trail led me to the back of the room where I saw her passed out under some rugs, smoke inhalation no doubt. "Shit," I growled as I picked her up carefully, carrying her like a toddler with her head on my left shoulder, keeping her whole body on my weak side actually. I needed my right.

Looking towards the steel door, I charged at it, I had to do this fast, so I used overdo with every booster I had, and my free shoulder smashed the door itself off the frame and as I fell, I twisted to take the impact and keep Bhadra's body safe from the fire escaping behind me, my arm dislocated from the heavy and ill-angled hit.

That didn't keep it from lighting my back on fire or anything, but it kept her safe and that was what mattered at the moment. I pushed the girl off the hot steel door with my good arm and rolled the other way with a groan, and kept rolling as the fire really kicked up on me. "FUCK!" I screamed as my top, leaf covered hoodie, was engulfed with all the air the fire needed to kick start.

I scrambled to my feet and tore the clothing off my back, the fire sparking the wood shrapnel next to tinder everything. Getting it off, I threw it down to the dirt, before rubbing my singed hair furiously to get the embers out of my short hair, hat having fallen off. I heard running feet and quickly opened my eyes, seeing cover and lunged at it, hitting it and flipping over the stone wall in a mess of limbs, somehow twisting to get up in half a second, pistol already in hand.

I raised from the cover a moment later. No way we were dying after I got lit on fire for that girl. I found myself aiming at Sabal, Amita, and several rebels looking at me. I looked them over and down the path that had a landslide. "Where the hell did you come from?" I questioned with a frown. "The road's blocked off and the grimms are amassed."

"Tunnels," Sabal said as Amita checked on the coughing Bhadra before starting a row with Sabal. I didn't care anymore. I was tired, shot up, and burnt. Stepping over my cover, I found my smoldering clothes and picked up my hat, flicking off the embers on it, I placed it back on my head with my deceptively long arms. My albino-ish grey torso easily seen with the too pronounced ribs and too sunken in body. It was… in a word, ghoulish.

I looked at my dislocated arm and to one of the standing rebellion members. "_You!_" I said as I pointed at the man with my good arm. He jumped and looked at me, then pointed at himself. I nodded. He slowly walked over, cautiously. "_Pop my shoulder back in, the grimms are soon to be here,_" I told him and held my arm out. He nervously reached out and with a heave, he popped my shoulder back in with a sickening hollow sound that had him looking ill.

My lip upturned in a sneer for a moment before I lowered it, taking a breath. Shaking my arm out, I clenched my fist and the debuff was down, but it would be a sleep until I could properly use my arm again. I glanced at my blood soaked pant leg and sighed seeing how damaged I was, and about to go fight some grimms. I'd do some towers tomorrow.

"_Mister Skellington_," I heard a young voice say behind me. I looked back and Bhadra flinched seeing my visage. I mentally switched off the title and my body filled out and got the skin tone back, my stitching going away and color coming back to my face as I took a knee in front of her. The title might be more for me to hide who I am, but I didn't need to use it all the time. Sabal and Amita had seen me without and the three rebels around didn't matter.

She stared at the sudden change that I went through and gathered herself. "_Thank you!_" She said shyly. I nodded and stood back up, holding my leg out a bit to the side as I did so as it hurt terribly. The bone most definitely shattered by the heavy slugs.

"_No problem,_" I told her just before Amita pulled her back and took a stance in front of me, looking snarling mad. I immediately turned my title back on and the ghoulish appearance came back as I met her eyes with a straight back.

This had her falter but she just got her steam back like she was on a warpath. "_This is what we get by rescuing this kid!_" She shouted, looking back at Sabal. "_We take in the one person who escaped Yuma's hands, she gets Paul to slaughter our village!_"

As she yelled, I got angrier and angrier. "_Fuck you_" I barked back. "_This isn't on me!_" There was no way I would let her pin this on me. These death were not my fault! "_Don't you stand there and pin all of this on me! I was the only one who really responded to the call because you lot were so fucking slow in your tunnels! I nearly had a mountain dropped on me and had to do all this with three bullets in my leg!"_

Sabal stepped in before it could escalate anymore. "_Look this isn't about him, it's on me. I didn't think they would try something like this and we have gotten sloppy recently. Took too many members away from the base. Now they took the outpost from us last night, so they must have a few hostages now too!"_

"_Outpost?"_ I questioned, "_You mean the one by the radio tower?_" This got the attention of the two leaders. "_If it was last night, I took them down along with three more that controlled the south. They were on the way to the radio towers and all._"

The two leaders and even Bhadra stared at me before Sabal opened his mouth and uttered, "_Are you telling me, you… singlehandedly took down four of Pagan Min's outposts and took out many of his radio towers over the course of one day… because they were 'on the way' to another tower?_"

'Was that a bad thing?' I wondered to myself before I stopped the doubt in my mind cold. I wasn't Arc, I was more Hawke with a … needed killer personality to get through this and I needed to keep my confidence. "_Yes,_" I nodded. "_I even found their operation plans and a few others I didn't really know if you needed._" I reached around my back, no one there, and with a flourish, pulled out two folders that were clean and crisp.

Amita just took them, snatched them really, from my hand before angrily storming off, Bhadra's hand in her grasp as she did so. 'You're welcome,' I thought towards her back sarcastically, making sure to not utter my annoyance.

Sabal watched them go before rubbing his face. "_Good work brother, I'll have men go occupy the new land, keep Pagan's men out. Get yourself fixed up. I call you when we need some more work done._" I nodded and now that the battle was over, I had to limp off. My status said that I would be fine in nine hours, so I might as well work on my archery until then. It had saved me from getting into a massive firefight with about ten new soldiers, so the least I could do was train in it while I healed.

To do this, I had twenty arrows on me in my quiver. I took it out after putting on a loose shirt to cover my top up and found myself at the landslide so I could be productive. Taking out my shitty bow, I climbed a bit over the rubble and up to the top carefully with my claws until I found myself looked down at grimms that couldn't climb. It seemed the beowolves were nowhere to be seen. Worrying, but I just activated my danger sense and made sure of things. It was clear except for the ones I was looking at.

I spent the next seven hours using my arrows, shooting the grimms as they tried to climb up to get to me. When I ran out, I killed them with my gun, restocked off their given loot and pulling the arrows free from their bodies, and returned to shooting down at them carefully, aiming for their flesh, not bone, which helped me level my skill up. The sights were near useless, but that just helped me understand how to fire it better until it wasn't lucky when I hit the flesh. I got four levels in archery from killing the grimms… more hitting them, as I only killed seven with arrows. The rest I gunned down if they were too close or if I had to gather the ones I shot.

When the last of the grimm had left and the rebellion had gotten enough people to man the gates, fortifying it with bits and bobs, I went back to the burnt village and settled down under my tree from the night before, falling asleep at seven-thirty.

I woke up, once more, not so bright-eyed and still had a bushy tail. This time at the crack of fucking midnight. I would curse my six hour sleep cycle, but I actually REALLy needed to do this during the night, and since I could see in the dark, it wasn't an issue. I had to go take over some outposts and take out some towers after all, so the faster I did that, the faster I got Min, the faster I get to go home.

Who knew what kind of shit that could develop from forcibly converting an entire species?! I sure didn't and I was going to find out, so until I talked to him… and beat the holy hell out of him, I was stuck here, driven by revenge and a desperate need to understand.

Sighing, I took off at a jog past the rough gatehouse, humming a small tune to jog to, a simple cadence rhythm to set the pace as I ran into the greyish night. A world without color was sort of dull, but after a few minutes, I got use to it. Helped I knew why and that it would come back of course. Took my mind off things by learning the new song on my scroll and such while I ran, while keeping alert. I thought I wasn't stupid enough to do that, but I have been wrong about my intellect in the past. Hence why I was here and not sleeping in my bedroom. Or how I'm a high ranking criminal, or every other thing I do breaks a dozen laws. Or a number of other things.

My trip was for the north side of southern Kyrat tonight. The charts I took up implied a more heavy presence of the Royal Army, probably because the rebellion, while a loose hold, still had some hold on the land around the southern quarter, more so now it was freed.

The first tower I hit, I had to take out the outpost in the way. It was a simple night operation like my first one, unlike the first, the seventeen soldiers of the compound, didn't actually have too many people out to notice anything due to half being asleep and it being in a forested area so I could set up a sniper's nest. One that was far better assembled than my first with twigs tucked into my belt.

That idea was how I found myself nestled in some branches, smack to the left of a nevermore's nest, using some of the feathers and foliage around me to hide my form, breaking it up, looking down with my Marksman rifle, which… I decided to name Calla. I had thought it up months ago, but seeing as Calla was a… man killer, not a grimm killer, I didn't have much need for her enough to remember the name. Calla, a Greek name that I didn't know the meaning behind, just something more personal than 'rifle' or 'gun,' for the weapon getting me through this war alive.

My sights lined up with one of the lookouts, a cat faunus, tiger if the hair coloration I believe I saw in the… no light, was something to go off of. My finger squeezed the trigger of the weapon three times, the cough of the weapon consumed by the loud sounds of nature around. The lookout fell out of view and I shifted my aim a total of three more times in the next thirty seconds, each lookout getting a bullet to the heart, the head, or a combination of the two with the lung.

But… someone noticed the last shot and the alarm went up, well… figuratively as I sunk five into the alarm box in the center of the camp. But that was thirteen more soldiers, all whom would be armed and five which were wide awake already. That would be a messy and… disturbing battle if I made it out to be exactly like my first.

I steeled myself as I took the head off of one of the outskirt soldiers, going to check on the gunner and as I shifted to kill the next, my danger sense went off and a glance down had a small smile hidden by the shadows and my stitches as I lifted my gun and faded backwards into the tree.

A roar echoed the crisp aired night, shaking the forest, as a black blur literally bull rushed a wall, taking it down in a shower of splinters and stone. A taurus, leading three smaller ones and a pack of beowolves, broke into the camp and madness ensued.

The gunfire took down the beowolves, most getting a kill each, until they were all down, leaving the four large bull-like grimms goring people and sending them around. They got three down, but the papa was a lesser, it wasn't going down by scattered infantry fire. It wasn't long until the camp was dead and the only thing left was the wounded, but satisfied taurus.

I snapped a picture, and dropped down, sneaking up behind the bull as it ate, Nox held in my hand, and slit its neck deep. The bull was turning, not quite stunned, so I ended up kicking its leg to the side, causing it to stumble down as it choked. I finished it off fast as it was rapidly catching itself and I really didn't want to fight that thing in a fair contest of strength.

A round of the game, 'Picture, loot, and text' later, I was off to the tower that the camp was too close to. Well, too close to comfortable sneak into the radio or bell tower, whichever one focused on, without being maybe detected. Getting to the tower was simple once the claws came out, just had to goat jump my way up the wall and such, not too nerve wracking as a fall didn't spell my demise, just a sprained ankle. For me.

The tower itself wasn't that big of a deal once more, just hurled my grappling hook to the top, tugged a bit on it, and rope climbed up to the top. Wasn't sure why I didn't do that for the others, but live and learn.

My fist once more found the recording and transmitting hardware once at the peak of the tower's balcony. As I admired the dark view of the moon lit forest, standing over a dead outpost with the blood of grimm on my arm, I saw a fortress to my left. It looked heavily guarded, which was saying something since it was still the dead of night and I was at least twenty miles away, even if I did put Hawke on for a brief scan over to make sure what I was seeing was correct.

They did have the boneyard shift going on at the moment, causing an evasive thought into my mind. 'Wouldn't it be a shame if the warlord in charge woke up to find they lost their castle? Maybe… if they actually slept there, Min might find he was missing a left hand man.'

The idea of fucking with Min and or his elite ranked officers took root and I was rappelling down the tower a minute later. I had a fortress to hike to and conquer like a hero of old. In the dead of night, alone, sneaking like a bastard. Kyrat, a place for adventure.


End file.
